Lost in the Park

Gyanburā, after handing his credit card to some girl he didn't know, ran outside the mall and found himself in a park. "Maybe i should have waited until after I paid for that chicks stuff to get to work." He continued to walk around aimlessly until he realized he was lost.

A man, standing against a tree, and clearly not looking at other things, was reading a book. It looked like an old one, but had the size of a pocket.

Gyanburā noticed the man and approached him. "Excuse me sir I appear to be lost, could I trouble you for directions?"

The guy looked up. "Surprised that you can get lost in a park. Guess that's an achievement to be unlocked. It's not too hard, just go that direction, and keep walking. Though, you gone far into the woods, I must say. I thought nobody ever came down here, even not intentionally."

Gyanburā let out a laugh. "A sense of direction is something I was born without. I guess in that respect I am unlucky. Thank you sir." Gyanburā reached in his pocket and grabbed his coin. "Say...heads or tails?"

"Side." His face was serious, and he wasn't joking.

Gyanburā flipped the coin and decided to humor the man and let it fall to the ground. "Are you sure it will land on it's side?" The coin began it's decent.

"I'm not sure about anything, but when there are several options, for the sake of willpower, I always choose the least likely one. There is a chance, as small as it might be."

The coin hit the ground and bounced a few times, before finally landing. To Gyanburā's surprise it landed on it's side but was wobbling. "Well this is strange, first I lose to a girl and pay for anything in a store I've never heard of and here I am staring at a coin that's landed on it's side. I hope my luck works out before the tournament tonight..." It finally struck Gyanburā that the reason he was in a hurry was to prepare for the tournament.

"A tournament? In gambling? That'd be interesting, any chance I can come along and accompany you?"

"Sure, it's the world poker tournament. I've won every one that I've attended and I wish to keep a clean sheet." He checked his watch and saw he had an hour left before it would start. "It will start in an hour, however, if you want to join me, we will have to hurry."

"How would 3 minutes sound. I know where it's held, so get up." With a fluent movement, he shapeshifted into a majestic red dragon, oftenly described in Japanese and Chinese songs, and offered the guy to step up his back. In the guys mind, the voice of the man he spoke to a second ago was talking to him. "I don't let anyone see my actual form often, not to mention ride on my back, but you're a fair and good man. They say riding us brings luck. Let's hope this will be the case."

Gyanburā stood with with a bit of surprise written on his face, but let out a laugh. "Maybe that's why you called it right. It's not my luck that's slipping but, instead, it's a bit of clashing luck that caused it to stand on it's side. And if riding a dragon brings good luck then I'm all for it!" Gyanburā climbed onto the dragons back.

With great force, that made the trees bend over, he lifted off. With a few wingbeats, they were on altitude, and after 2 and a half minutes, a current record time for him, they had arrived at location. Landing closeby, not in sight, he shifted back to human form. He gave the man a hand. "Name's Zayn, glad to meet you."

"The names Gyanburā; it's Japanese for gambler. My parents ironically named me for my future past time. It's a pleasure." He shook the mans hand. "I guess I did get lucky, even if it had me lost in the woods."

"Sometimes little unlucky events turn out to be proceedings for greater luck. But enough philosophy, you have to get prepared for your debute on the tables at this scale." He lead the man in, the guards not requesting for any ID or anything. "Ever been in a place this large?"

"Once, only once. I was 13 and my father was competing. This was the last place I saw him; this is the place he died." Gyanburā said, checking the text on his phone as to where the room was for the tournament.

"Lost your father as well. Unfortunate events those, but they help us strengthen ourselves. That is how I see it. Every downside has an upside, and the other way around. Like your coin." He walked with him into the dressing rooms, and occupied the star room, dragging Gyanburā inside.

Gyanburā put on a good tux and they walked into the poker room, all seats but two were filled, even though they were early. Gyanburā sat in a seat at the table, and saw that the variety of people gathered was a sight he was not use to, but he kept his composure.

"I'm sure you don't need it, but just try to stay calm, ignore how they act towards you. Read them, I'm sure you're good at that. I'll be in the back." With a pat on the back, he went to watcher seats, and looked at the tables.

Since everyone was accounted for the dealer handed out the chips and cards. As the time progressed my pile grew larger and the people grew shorter until it was down to two. Across the table was a man who seemed a little too cocky to have made it this far. Finally it was an all in game.

Seeing how the game had progreesed, and that his new acquaintance had been playing rather carefully, he was wondering whether he'd take it for that small chance there was. Even though he was chip leader, there was a lot at stake. And the odds were fairly against him. "Take the shot, I say." He whispered the words, and wasn't heard by even his neighbour.

The much waited anticipated cards were dealt to both sides. Gyanburā checked the cards and noticed his hand was useless, he couldn't even go for a suit. The man across from him laughed and laid two cards for the dealer to replace. The pressure was on Gyanburā, he could keep a few cards and try for a miracle or put his hand down and get a new one. Suddenly he felt the urge to keep the king he had and lay down the other four. The dealer took his cards and dealt at four more. "This is it, a chance to turn this game my way." He whispered to himself. He lifted the cards to find 2 aces and a king and lastly a queen.

Zayn watched the game, and noticed he was still trying to play careful. "This'll be interesting."

The man at me trying to see if Gyanburā was going to fold, but Gyanburā had finally found a hand to be proud of so he was going to stay in it. The dealer signaled for the flip the man across from Gyanburā had a two pair, one of queens and the other were jacks it was a 10 high.
Gyanburā flipped his with the relief of a two pair, 2 kings and two aces with a queen high. "That was close." Gyanburā stated with a sigh.