Kuno seemed to tilt his head upon seeing her reaction; the phone being thrown on the ground and all. Momentarily, he held his eyes on the phone, confused for a brief three seconds on what would guarantee that reaction. But soon enough he moved his focus back and upon hearing her speak, he seemed to give a light, very brief laugh.
Where did you come from? // One on One // Closed
"What are you laughing at?" Ana turned her furious gaze to the stranger in front of her. "And who are you, really? I don't believe that you're from Seda-whatsit, so don't try to tell me that." She tossed her long braid over her shoulder and glared.
Giving his head another shake, but not in any sort of yes or no gesture, he straightened his form. “I am from Sedori, as I’ve insisted before,” he spoke, begrudgingly. “But my name is Kuno Aynon.” He supposed it wouldn’t do any harm in saying his full name here, after all.
"Sounds like a foreign name." Ana had calmed down slightly, composing herself. She picked up her phone and slid it into her pocket, clicking the safety of her gun back on and storing it in her jacket. She still didn't trust the guy, but she was pretty sure that he wouldn't hurt her. "My full name is Analaya Hart. I don't know why my parents did that to me, but they did."
Kuno still didn’t drop his spear; most likely because he had no where to put it, but he did seem to relax. Just a little.
With a nod, he made sure to remember the name. “What are you going to do…now?” He wondered out loud, unsure of what to do right now. He also didn’t quite trust her, but he’d definitely improved from just minutes ago.
"Leave and not even pretend to have seen you," Ana said instantly. "You're probably some figment of my tired mind. If you're not, well, I don't even care anymore." She turned to go. "So… go back and keep playing dress up or something."
Kuno stayed silent for a few seconds after she finished. Finally, his response came, after evaluating his options.
“Let me begin by saying that I am in a foreign country of which I have no clue where I am, where to go, what to do…” He began. “I could be some sort of spy for all you know, and Sedori could just be a made up country like you believe, just using it as a cover story.”
Although it was faint, his accent; somewhat unidentifiable began to show slightly. “And by allowing me to leave, you will allow a foreign spy into your country,” he glanced up, “to steal whatever information is available. That sounds nice, doesn’t it?” He ended off with a somewhat mocking tone. He paused.
“So tell me, what can I do or say to get you to believe me?”
"That could all be true," Ana said, waving her hand. She had thought about it, but it wasn't very likely. No one would go this far in their spying. No country was that desperate, right? "But it probably isn't. I admire your imagination in coming up with such a story, but the only way that you could make me believe you is if you took me to that Sedo-place."
And that probably wasn't going to happen. It was a made-up place.
“Can’t take you there,” he folded his arms. “The shores of Sedori are constantly under watch, and if they’re not being watched, then they’re under attack. And getting to there, either via boat or plane is a whole other story.” Kuno trailed off, glancing up again. “But…”
“..If I showed you a picture, would your chance of believing me go up?”
"Maybe?" Ana said, putting her hands on her hips. "I don't know, though. It has to be realistic, and believable." She snorted. Did this guy really think that she would believe him?
“Sure, sure,” he muttered. He seemed to search his pockets for whatever he could find, momentarily setting the spear aside for now.
Finally, his hands brushed against a small-ish photo and Kuno lifted it, inspecting it. He also knew he had one more..but he just decided to start off with this photo for now.
Walking closer, albeit cautiously, Kuno presented the picture. It seemed to be in colour, although the colours were slightly more drained, as though whatever camera they’d been taken with was not good quality or an older model.
He offered the photo to her.
The photo would be of what seemed to be looking out at a town of sorts by a beach. Like a fishing village, kind of, though it seemed to look almost militarized judging by the ships that were at its docks and ones that could be seen in the distant ocean. There were people walking about, most of the visible ones seemed to be civilians but it was harder to make out details.
A flag was in the village, and the flag that was strung up was a red flag, with a black emblem on it. The emblem almost seemed to look like a dragon of some sorts, or perhaps a wyvern.
“The flag does not normally look like that, for the most part we only change our flag to that during war.” He quietly added. “If that is not enough for you, I also have a picture of our leader..er, my leader.”
"Cute, I guess." Ana frowned. There were so many ways this could have been faked. The village could have been photographed with an older camera, to make it more believable, and the flag could have been made up. There was exquisite detail on the flag, though. She was impressed with the level of preparation he had done for his story, as if he had known that someone would question his bizarre story.
It didn't make her believe him, though.
But… he seemed to act strangely, as if the place in the picture was dear to him. It was strange. He acted genuine, but, well, she couldn't believe him. Not at all. There was no such place as Sedori, and she was firm on that. Unless she got some solid proof, she wouldn't believe.
"Let's see the other picture," Ana said wearily.
“Okay.” Kuno put aside the first photo and took out the other. He presented it. It was slightly larger than the previous photo.
The photo was of similar quality to the other one, but this one seemed a bit better. Maybe the lighting was improved, maybe they’d decided to upgrade their model, whatever.
In the photo was a long table of some sorts. You’d be viewing it from the longer side, based on where the camera was. The background, again, had that same flag, albeit a larger version of it. And then there were the people.
Their physical features were impossible to view, due to what they wore, which could be easily described as dark in colour, some sort of modern armour. Two of the people on the sides, one for the left side, one for the right side, held guns. Very big guns. And they were tall. Very tall. Talking well over 6ft here.
The person who sat at the table was sitting down, so of course they’d be shorter. They had their hands in a gesture, as though speaking, but yet again, their face was not visible. A hood over their head, not even the lighting of the room could help make them more visible.
Their hands though. Perhaps the most peculiar part, was how, upon further inspection, seemed to be almost metallic.
"Why are they all so tall?" Ana asked, her eyes instantly drawn to the figures in the background. "If you live there, wouldn't you be taller, too?" The guy, who was around her age, was a few inches shorter than her. Then she studied the figure who seemed to be his leader. She pursed her lips, examining him with the practiced eye of an expert.
"Does he have a metal arm?" She asked suddenly. If this was all a hoax, the arm was the best imitation of a metal arm that she had ever seen, even with all of the movie effects right now.
“People vary in height around the world, do they not?” Although Kuno was trying to stay neutral, it was clear that question had him irked.
“She,” Kuno quickly corrected her. “The leader has two hands just like you and I, both metal.” Kuno glanced to the sky.
"They do, that's true," Ana acknowledged. She had landed on a touchy subject for him, it seemed. "Well, she, then. Why are her hands metal? Did she get them cut off or something?"
Kuno nodded, looking back to the photo. “Well you see, I don’t know. No one knows. The Leader is very secretive of her history, you see? She doesn’t tell just anyone about what happened to her hands.”
"Of course she is." Ana rolled her eyes. "Okay. So, is that it? That's your proof?" She put her hands on her hips. "They are very good photos, but how do I know that they're real."
Kuno froze. “What..what more proof do you want? How can I prove to you that they are real? Because I assure you, the photos are quite real!”
"What was it you said about me not being able to go to Sedori?" Ana asked. Then she frowned. "Wait… why are you here in the first place, if your so-called country is at war with the US?"
(Sorry for lack of response, had some family stuff)
Kuno held gaze with her for a few seconds after the questions were asked, before glancing away. “I..” His voice began almost confident and loud, but drifted off. “I don’t know.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing here, I’ve never left Sedori to begin with! I don’t have that level of permissions to leave Sedori!” He paused. “and of course you’re not able to go to Sedori, with the war!” Apparent war, anyways.
(It's fine, I totally get it!)
"I… see." Ana shrugged. "Well, do you have any idea why you're here in the first place?" She brushed some hair from her face and stared at him, trying to weigh if he was being serious or not.
Kuno took some time to reply. “No clue,” he gave a very slight shrug of the arms. “I’m apart of the branch of the Sedorian military that rarely goes out of the country, so I really have no clue..”
"Then… how did you get here…" Ana blinked. "I mean, okay. What on earth do you do, then? Stay in and protect your home turf?"
“Yes.” Kuno nodded. “That’s pretty much it. I defend Sedori alongside many others.” He looked up into the sky for a moment.
"And people actually know where Sedori is?" Ana shook her head. "I'm almost impressed. Then again, I'm just a low-level official. They wouldn't tell me high-security stuff like this." She shrugged.
“I mean..yeah? A lot of countries know, given they’re able to sit in our waters, sending groups of people over in attempt to attack us, day and night. Not that it ever works, of course.” Kuno stated the last part with some pride in his voice.
“Wait..” He paused, looking at her. “You’re..an official?”
"Yup." Ana gave a rueful grin. "Not a very good one, though. Just another one of those mindless thugs who know which end of the gun is which." She shrugged. "Which, apparently, is something that not everyone knows. It's stupid, really."
Kuno stays silent, staring at her for a long while. “I have never met an official of another country before..” He states, after a few moments. There was a protocol for this sort of stuff, right? Now, if only he could remember…or maybe not, maybe it was best to ignore standard protocol in a new country.
He falls silent.
"Yeah, well, you're likely to meet more." Ana rolled her eyes. "If you know where to look, and who to ask, you're likely to see us all over the place. Although, I still don't know the half of them." She shook her head. "Secrecy is pressed too heavily on us, seriously."