"Gwahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!" A roar of laughter echoed through the streets of Crocus. The usual hustle and bustle of a large and tantalizing city. The sun was shone brightly in a near cloudless day directly above the capital hinting that it was noon or at least approaching it. A cool breeze had gently passed through the streets of Crocus as pedestrians and children walked, laughed and played together. Men and women from all over the capital gather here for various reasons such as but not limited too, entertainment, shopping and even having the night around the town. Brick and stone patterned streets seem to flow and trail off at every given corner, each with more twists and turns than the last path that were traversed. Even the longest of residents still occasionally had trouble navigating through the city and it was even worse for young Uchida.  

Uchida is a dark-skinned young man with platinum blond hair and blue eyes. He's at least five foot seen and rather lean, weighing at about one-hundred and fiftyy six pounds. He wears a navy blue coat that's seemingly always open over a yellow button down shirt that's tucked into his pants. Occasionally, he wears a black tie to go with his formal attire. For his lower attire, he wears black, baggy pants and black combat boots. The people back in his hometown had always told him all the rich people in big cities dressed like this.

Letting out a small sigh, Uchida had been strolling around the city wondering what he should do. Placing a hand on his temple, quietly looking down at the floor. He was clearly not not from around this area, heck even the city itself, but was currently here as his first stop for opportunity. He had decided long ago that visiting the biggest city first would easily be the best place and the shortest time amount spent searching for excitement and opportunity. He was starting to regret that decision since he didn't take into account how large the capital would be and just estimated how big it would be by comparing it to his tiny village in the outskirts of Oak.

Letting out another low sigh, Uchida had continued to aimlessly walk through the streets until he came across board that seemed to be a detailed map of Crocus. There was a little indication showing where he was currently at. This helped him out a little bit but when he really thought about it, he didn't have an actual destination in mind. He just thought existing here would make events leap out and grab him if he threw his mage title around a little bit. Deciding to play a little mini-game to decide his next course of action, he walked in the opposite direction of wher ehe came from in a hurry, thinking speeding up his pace would speed up how long he'd have to wander. Not looking where he was going he had bumped into another boy and staggered back a little. He paused for a second before blurting. "What the hell...? Watch where you're going, you moron." Dusting himself off, he had placed his right hand into his pocket and looked at him wondering if he would say something.

Finn had lost himself walking through the streets of Crocus. The breeze had evolved into a gale, causing vendors to batten down their hatches and secure anything that could be blown away. People dressed reserved, avoiding the flipping of skirts and stealing away of hats on the wind. No one wished to be done in by nature, not in a town that so fiercely lashed out against it at the very least.

Still, the intense winds did nothing to slow down the hustle and bustle of the countries capitol. If anything, it was just another day here in Crocus. Stores were open, the midday sun beating down on everyone below. One would expect that winter would bring with it colder temperatures, however the day was eerily warm. Some had related the rise in temperature to global warming, caused by an influx of fire magic. Others said it was simply the cycle of earth. Still more argued that it was a fluke, nothing to concern themselves about.

Finn, on the other hand, paid none of those topics any mind. Instead, he was glad that he had gotten back together with Jake to explore the capitol with his older brother. The two of them had spent much time separated, due in part to a plethora of reasons. While the distance they put between one another was originally meant to only be a week long thing, during Finn's original stay in Crocus, it had evolved into something much more. Before he knew it, the young adventurer had been whisked off to Baska for the first Martial Arts tournament.

He had done well, luckily enough. No- It wasn't luck actually. He had worked hard at it. The growth he experienced during the tournament was astounding. He had moved past the stage of mulling over the loss, trying to find fault with himself. Now he was at the stage where he'd want to grow from it. To learn from the mistakes, and take away a positive message rather than lash out at himself for his shortcomings. He had made it to the end- It was simply bad decisions that had halted his progress there. As long as he could improve from it, the victory would still be his.

"Oof" Finn gasped, a slight amount of air being let out as he collided with someone slightly taller than himself. Regaining his footing and looking ahead, Finn saw a tan skinned male with bright blond hair. The man seemed to instantly get aggressive, to which Finn began to respond, only to have Jake step forward instead.

"Woah woah woah there buddy lets just take it eeeasy okay? Finn didn't mean it, didja Finn?" Shaking his head, answering the question in silence, Jake nodded as if the issue were now fully resolved.

"Sorry man. I'm didn't see you there. I'm Finn, it's nice to meet you" he said, extending out a hand.

There was a slight shifting in the winds previously to what he was already accustomed too. It didn't really bother him him enough to pay any mind given his current situation. He had just bumped into another boy and what seems like....a talking dog. Astounded, Uchida tilted his head slightly to the right wondering if he should respond to it or not. A tense aggravation that was building up now faded, briefly turning into a blank expression before changing again into a frown of genuine confusion. He thought to himself "Should i... Should i respond to this thing?" Uchida had begun to open his mouth to respond when suddenly the boy that had fell had also begun to speak which made him feel slightly more relieved but still confused.

Uchihda straightened his posture and head from tilting. He noticed the boy had told him, his name was Finn and now had extended his hand. Scoffing, he pulled his right hand out of his pocket and extending it towards Finn's own to accept the handshake as a sign of greeting and goodwill for the time being.  He continued to hold onto his hand and stare at his face as if he was trying to read the boy. He was gripping rather tightly out of concentration and didn't really how much pressure he was using until he was done. He wasn't really sorry for doing it so he retracted his hand and shrugged before he decided to give his own name. "Shichiro Uchida... Just call me Uchida i guess... Not that it matters. After this little conversation, we probably won't likely ever meet again" he had said in an unrestrained, irritated voice. Uchida then remembered the little dog thing that spoke to him before and turned his attention to it and stared it before speaking again. "What the hell is that thing and why does it speak like us...? Of course, Uchida has seen normal dogs and animals before but he never quite came across something that could comprehend and even use human speech. It was astonishing really and it simply continued to boggle his mind.

He shook is head as if to stop himself from staring at the thing and continued to speak. "Ya know what, i don't think i want to know. I feel like i'll get nightmares if i know what exactly what i'm looking at. Anyways, you know your way around this place kid? I've been walking for hours and i still don't know where exactly i'm at." As soon as Uchida had spoken, he had started to feel some form of regret since he glanced at the kid's attire and came up with the assumption that he was also not from around here. He gave an outward sigh, expecting him to say he was also clueless but decided he would wait for confirmation anyways.

Finn had looked Uchida in the eye, and ready to accept the man as an equal with no real reason to do so. Finn believed that one shouldn't be considered bad until given a reason to assume they were bad. However, what Uchida had done there was a grave mistake for anyone. Even Jake had realized it, though the dog wouldn't make a move to stop his younger brother. Not unless things escalated to a point of violence, at least. Even without fist, Finn could be a relatively intimidating person, despite his normal nature. It would likely show here.

"Listen, I don't know what your deal is. If you talk about Jake in a bad way again, I'll hurt you." Finn's fists were clenched at this point, eyes set on Uchida's. His words came with a tinge of anger to them, and everything about Finn seemed ready to back those claims up at a moments notice. The two would stare at Uchida for a few moments, giving him a chance to answer or stay silent. Assuming he didn't do anything to further provoke the already angered young man, Finn would sigh and move on.

"Now, anyways! This is Jake. Jake is my older brother. And yeah, I've been in Crocus for a little while. I can help you get around as long as you're not rude to Jake anymore."

It seemed there was a bit of tension in the air and even Uchida could feel it slightly. Normally, he would act on this sort of behavior but even Uchida prefers rationality over hasty decisions and besides he wasn't here to do battle when he was here to impress would-be employers. Uchida leaned his upper body back a bit to further assess the situation. The other boy was claiming this dog was his "brother" but of course they look nothing like, hell they aren't even the same species but whatever, he thought. He always heard people of the mainland were strange people. Putting a brief look of disgust, Uchida had straightened up and calmed down for a bit. He decided he'd let this transgression slide and ignored the obvious threat.

It seems the boy wasn't finished speaking so he continued to listen. After hearing what he had to say, it turns out. This kid could help him out. He was glad he made the right decision to not act upon his impulses and taunt the kid any further. Of course it came at a somewhat painful request to throw random jabs at the talking dog thing. He assumed it was one of those familiar things that people keep mentioning but this is the first time he's ever seen and, he guesses, "spoken" to one. "Yeah, sure.. Fine...Whatever.. Let's just go." He said a bit haughty. Even though he said this, he still didn't have a clear destination in mind and didn't really know where he wanted to go. "Erm... Actually, despite being lost, i still don't know where i want to go or what do. I just came here expecting things to happen...." He said a bit hesitantly not wanting to seem perplexed. He continued to talk and said "While we're at it, take me to a place where i can go do some work or something." He began to fold his arms waiting for something to happen.