No Matter (OPEN)

[Malinda Wolfe]

Malinda and Richard had walked to the park that day, not wanting to stay inside while their father was at work. So Malinda suggested they go to the park, expecting to see some of their friends. Of course Richard being the lovable 13 year old that he his, he found his friends quickly and split away from Mal, leaving her all alone. So, she just walked quietly around the park, knowing that maybe her friends had cram school that day. I never even thought they would have such a tough time in school... Malinda thought to herself, finding a lone bench and sat down. A few people passed by, but it seemed like the park was almost empty that day.

Malinda was one that didn't like to be alone, it was too weird for her; almost as if something bad could happen if she were by herself for too long. No bad thoughts, Mal. Someone's bound to come by sooner or later. She took a deep breath through her nose and released it. Even though she was in a big city, to Malinda it was uncomfortable being around a different race when you were just a young, American girl, but the feeling started to die down once she had gotten a few Japanese friends who would hang out with her after school. No wonder they're slipping on grades. Her face looked rather annoyed look, thinking how they could be doing their homework at least good instead of getting stuck inside all day, especially on a day like this.

"I hope someone comes by soon, or else I might just end up going back home... Better to be board there than here in this park." Mal mumbled to herself, she looked down at her dress. Her eye then twitched when she saw a part was sticking up a little bit, she then brought her hand down and straitened it counting how many times she should press down. "One, two, three, four..." Mal looked at it and smiled, happy that she at least accomplished something.

[Dan Carlisle]

Dan was distracted, as he was roaming about Domino. He was looking down, reading something in a notebook. His eyes darting left to right, a song hummed through his closed and smiling lips, and an occasional page turn accompanied his happy pace. The American man had luckily been missing people as he went about oblivious of his surroundings. Narrowly dodging businessmen on their way to work, vendors selling their products, and other people enjoying the day.

However like all good things, his luck came to an end. A single uneven piece of walkway caused him to stumble and fall. To him, it was like in slow motion. His eyes widened as his notebook flung from his hands. "Oh no!" escaped his lips as it flew out of his reach. The notebook hit the ground at the same time he did. It skidded across the pavement towards an occupied bench. To anyone else, it would probably look like gibberish and strange symbols written on the page, but his notes were a compilation of Egyptian hieroglyphs and various other languages he'd copied from museum exhibits to translate on his own time.

Gathering himself, he approached the bench and went to pick up his notes. "So sorry to disturb you..." He apologized as he reached for the book. "Oh so sorry."

[Malinda Wolfe]

Malinda looked from her work to see a man and his notebook slide across the pavement. Seeing that made her cringe back in pain, thinking about how much that hurt. When she went down to pick up the notebook she saw that it had many different and weird writings in it. She then saw the man stand up and apologizing to her. "Oh, no. You're okay... Well are you okay?" She asked, her blue eyes looked up at him in concern to see if he was hurt in anyway.

"You weren't too hurt from your fall?" Mal stood up to check up on the man. Of course she was use to seeing her younger brother get hurt all of the time, so maybe she could help this man in some way or shape. "You better pay attention to where you're walking than what you are reading... It can be dangerous." Her eyes shone even more concern.

"Are... Are you a professor or something?" She asked pointing to the notebook. "That's a lot of gibberish in there." Mal said, the only two writings she knew about where English and Japanese. Nothing else interested her unless she knew she needed to learn it.

[Arial Redford]

Ugh, I'm so BORED! This single thought was what mainly preoccupied the mind of one young Arial Redford. Because she had not inhabited Domino City for a long period of time, she had taken the day to explore it. With her handy-dandy cell phone and wallet combo stuffed in both pockets of her dark-wash, ripped jeans, she had left her house rather early in the morning and aimlessly wander the streets of the city she had recently moved to. For the past few hours, she had window shopped and looked at the wares and merchandise of the towns that filled the area. She was actually amazed with the detail of most of the things that she had seen, though she couldn't say that she had yet to feel the need to buy anything. However, one thing that she had wanted to check up on since she had arrived was the cities famous cards. She had been intrigued by the aspect, but she had not yet been able to find the time to look for them.

I should go look for those cards. Maybe then I'll actually find something to do. Who knows. If I actually take a liking to them, I MIGHT even make some friends finally. Yes, it was truly a terrible tale of woes that was this young girls life. Once she had finally been able to make friends after convincing her parents to let her attend school back home in America, she was suddenly whisked away to another country. She had no friends here, and she was truly beginning to feel lonely once more. She had felt this way since she was younger, and she really hated the feeling. It was what had made her ask her parents to let her attend a school, and know it was creeping its way back in. She needed to hurry up and make friends.

It was with these thoughts in mind that she made up her mind to go in search of the cards that were so famous, taking a short cut through the city park to see if it would lead her anywhere. As she walked the trail through the park, she continued to be lost in thought, trying desperately to think of where exactly she could start her search. So deep was she in thought that she hadn't noticed the people in front of her until it was too late. Luckily for her, she didn't hit the person hard enough to do any damage to them. Unluckily for her, she was mid-stride, leaving her unbalanced. Oh great, this is just not my day, Arial thought as she fell toward the hard ground, all thoughts of looking for cards currently on hold.

[Dan Carlisle]

"Just my dignity. Other than that, I'm fine." He smiled. He was a bit embarrassed that a young girl was scolding him for not watching where he was going.
"Close... I work at the museum as part of my university's history program. I just get so wrapped up in translating some of the exhibits that I can't focus on anything else." He flipped a few pages in the notebook and showed pictures he'd sketched of some of the more recent exhibits. A stone vase, a spire, and an ornate mirror. Around each image, Dan had copied glyphs and was in the process of translating to Greek.

"My notes are pretty chaotic looking, but there is a method to the madness." He looked down at the watch on his wrist. "I have some time before I need to get back to museum. My name is Dan. Dan Carlisle."

[Malinda Wolfe]

Malinda chuckled at his joke. He then explained what his job really was and showed her the pictures and drawings in his notebook. "Oh wow." She said in amazement. He did a fine job and everything seemed to be so well planned out. "Well isn't that the way how notes are suppose to be." Mal chuckled with a big smile on. "I'm Malinda Wolfe." Mal said after he checked his watch, noting that he had time to talk before he had to go back to work.

Suddenly an unknown force pushed against her. Malinda looked over to see who it was. And it seemed to be a girl. Mal blinked a few times, today was a lucky day to see new people here. She looked at the girl who feel to the ground. "Oh my... Everyone's tripping today." She laughed with a nervous look on her face. "Are you okay?" Mal asked looking down at the girl, with a hand drawn out to help Arial.

[Dan Carlisle]

"At least two of us." Dan smiled again. He closed the notebook and stuck out his hand as well to help the girl up. With his other hand, he put the notebook into a brown leather satchel. The glimpse of a Duel Disk could be seen for an instant. "I'm Dan. What's your name?" he asked.

Domino... I've pretty much just arrived here and I'm already meeting people. He thought excitedly. He smiled a little wider. He had just arrived a few days ago. He wasn't even fully unpacked yet. He'd been working at the museum now for a couple of days and didn't even really know his way around the city yet. Meeting people who've been here longer significantly helps him out.

[Arial Redford]

An audible sound of pain was heard as Arial's hands and knees made contact with the hard ground, the impact sending a jolt of pain through the limbs. She knew that her hands and knees would be red and possibly cut up a little from the fall, a side effect of her clumsiness. Oh well. She couldn't really help it anymore know, could she? Sitting up slightly, she checked the skin on the heels of her palms, looking for any major injury to the surface. After being satisfied at seeing nothing to problematic, she mentally let out a sigh of relief. Wouldn't want to disappoint her parents with her clumsy ways once more, did she? She really didn't feel in the mood to listen to them rage on and on about how she needed to stop being so clumsy. 'Be more graceful and lady-like! You'll never go anywhere in life if you're always this clumsy,' they would say. It was the only bit of attention they would even pay attention to her.

However, before she could delve much deeper into her mental fountain of irritation toward her parents, she was shaken from her thoughts by the voice of the one she had accidently bumped into. Looking up, she noticed a girl slightly younger than herself, asking if she was ok while offering her a hand. Next to her was a young man a couple of years older than her that was putting away a notebook. Both of them looked foreign to the country, so maybe she had managed to run into someone who would understand her position of having no friends here. Arial also noted that he was kinda cute, though she didn't think much on it. Smiling up at the kind girl, she accepted her hand, using it to help picking herself up from the ground. Dusting of her hands and clothes to make sure no dirt or fallen leaves currently clung to her, she addressed the younger girl.

"Yea, I'm fine. I'm really sorry for bumping into you! I should have been watching where I was going," Arial said, bowing slightly in apology. She thought about asking the younger girl if she was ok, but the girl looked fine and healthy and hadn't fallen, so she assumed she was good. She then decided to introduce herself to the two, as the guy had already introduced himself as Dan. "My name is Arial Redford. It's nice to meet you two," she said with a bright smile, her grey eyes shinning as she did so, filled with hope that she would finally make some friends.

[Malinda Wolfe]

Malinda nodded her head as both introduced themselves. "I'm Malinda Wolfe. It's nice to meet you, too." She said, giving an equal smile. "And it's okay. I'm use to people bumping into me." Malinda nodded slowly, noting the few moments in school when people would purposely ignore her. But something a few moments ago caught her eye. she turned to look over at Dan once more, but with a more serious face. "You have a duel disk?" Mal asked in amazement, she never really meet anyone else who had a duel disk, in real life of course. All of her friends where to afraid or too broke to get on. So, of course being the adventurous American girl, she picked one up after she begged her father for one.

"That's so amazing!" She said with more amazement. Mal looked over at Arial. "Don't you think? Do you duel, too?" Mal asked, her eyes shone more. Not only that but since both seem to be out of the country... We all could have something in common. but then she noticed that she was the youngest out of the three of them... And would probably be a bother. Wait, you're 16, you shouldn't be worried about that stuff... Right? She nervously shifted for a moment.

[Dan Carlisle]

"Er... yeah I duel." He pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket encased in what at first appeared to be a rock until he pulled to top off, revealing the monsters, traps, and spells inside. "But first," He reached into this satchel again with his free hand, withdrawing a couple of adhesive bandages. "Scraped knees are no fun. Here." He handed the bandages to Arial. A smile still on his face.

He turned back to Malinda. "I think I've been a duelist almost as long as I have enjoyed ancient cultures." He pulled out the device from his satchel and showed it off. It wasn't a normal duel disk at all. It's exterior had been modified to look a bit different. It base of the disk looked like an ancient stone temple, while the deck spot had been shaped to look as if it was the temple's entrance. The graveyard area was modified as well in the likeness of the temple. The card spots on the disk were shaped and colored like old gray stone bricks with vines covering them. the moving mechanism that moves them together were also in the likeness of large green vines holding the stones in place.

"After I bought the disk, a friend of mine in the engineering program back home modified it to my aesthetic tastes. Pretty cool, huh." Dan took pride in his duel disk, and it showed with the large grin on his face.

[Arial Redford]

Large grey eyes looked upon the scene in amusement as Arial watched Malinda question Dan in curiosity. She, of course, had noticed the duel disk that was kept in the dude's bag, but had refrained from commenting, thinking that the constant reaching in and out of his bag would annoy him to no end. And then he would leave and she would be done a possible friend. She didn't want that to happen. She was, however, curious about the device as well. She had never seen a duel disk up close before, as none of the kids at her old school ever really got into game enough to purchase one. She herself had never given any thought toward the game itself, let alone the device one purchased to go along with it. Look at her now, though. All curious and wanting to learn how to play just so she could try and make friends. What a fickle person she turned out to be.

She was interrupted from her thoughts once more by two different outside events. The first was that Dan had managed to obtain bandages from his magical bag of wonder and was handing them to her, giving them to cover her scraped knees. Was there nothing that his bag didn't have? "Thanks," Arial said to him, a smile on her face as she accepted the bandage. She had thought of denying them, not wanting to rid him of his supplies, but she didn't really think he needed another reason to have to reach back into his bag. The second just happened to be the younger girl turning her curious ways toward herself, asking Arial if she dueled and what she thought of the duel disk. Arial listened to the girl closely as she questioned her, rolling up the bottoms of her jeans so she could easily cover her wounds and assess the damage, pondering her answer before she gave it.

"Well, I think your customized duel disk is pretty sweet. It's a lot cooler than just the regular brand ones that all the others use," she commented, answering the first of Malinda's questions as she poked her right knee, checking it for any serious need to bandage it. After finding known, she quickly moved on to her left knee, covering up the small cut that she gotten, all the while answering her next question. "And no, I don't duel. I never really gave it much thought back in New York. Now that I'm here, though, and completely surrounded by it, I would be lying if I said I wasn't interesting in learning," Arial finished with, rolling her pant legs back down and standing up straight once more and smiling at the both, handing Dan the extra bandage. So much for not having him reaching back into his bag again. "And you, Malinda? Do you duel?"

[Malinda Wolfe]

She watched him pull out the duel disk, it was different than the one that she or any other person had, completely different but in a unique way. When Malinda saw him grin, it almost looked like he was a small child showing off his coolest action figure. Mal then listened to if Arial dueled, but upon hearing that she never gave it much thought in New York, her heart sunk a little.

"I would think they would have a lot of dueling in New York, considering how big the state is..." Her eyes went up in thought, think of New York and probably getting lost. She then chuckled at her comment of now being surrounded by the card game, "Welcome to Japan." Mal smiled big at the girl. Mal watched her stand back up and asked if she dueled.

"Yes, I do actually." She had a backpack, expecting one of her friends to come by today to see her duel disk and her deck. Mal pulled of her backpack and sat it on the ground, leaning of her backpack and pulled out the disk and showed it off, blushing lightly as she showed the normal duel disk in it's metallic silver and blue. "I've only dueled for a few years, but I'm a lot better than when I first started. I'm now teaching my younger brother how to duel and he's getting better about that." Mal sat the duel disk back into her backpack.

[Dan Carlisle]

As he put away his own disk as Malinda pulled her's out. "That very cool. At some point, we should duel. I'd love to see your deck in action." Dan smiled and stuck his hands behind his back. It was exciting to have not only made some new friends but also to have met another duelist in such a short time. Suddenly, something began to beep quite loudly. For a moment Dan was not sure where it was coming from, but then pieced together that it was his watch.

Looking it, he nearly jumped out of his skin. "Oh no!I'm gonna be late! It was great to meet you two, though." He started to head off to the museum, stopping a bit out and calling back to the girls, "If you are ever at the museum, come and find me!" He turned and ran off.