Surviving the Night

[Deleted]

Subclass: Chef | Tools: Cooking Utensils | Crafting: Spicy Snack - :: - Skill: Iron Stomach (Passive)

Caerbannog did not think it possible, but there she was- completely lost in the Greatwood. She had a map, sure, but her problem was not the lack of directions. Wherever she took a turn, the samurai found a dead end. Fallen trees, idle packs of pittered boars, piles upon piles of green slime creatures; she had to take detours here and there, and she ended up going around in circles. She could just die and be resurrected at the Abbey of course, but that’s hardly living. The girl resolved to remain alive unless a sacrifice was absolutely necessary; it was her way as a tank in Elder Tale.

Soon, the sun began to set and Kyuu knew that she had to find food and shelter. While the last few rays still lit her way, the samurai set about looking for cooking ingredients. It had to be something warm that would last for the night, because she was unsure if the game’s weather would become worse as the moon rose. She’d been out on a walk before, but back then, she was close to Londenium. This time, she could not catch even a glimpse of the city-state. She was truly lost deep within Windsor Greatwood.

As she walked on, Caerbannog chanced upon some young pittered boars. They were trying to dig out something from the ground amidst trampled greens, but to no avail. She waited patiently and made sure to hide her presence by staying up on a tree branch. It was a difficult climb, what with her height (or lack thereof), but it was worth it. Kyuu could see every move that the boars made and once they were gone, she climb down the tree and checked the spot which had upturned soil. She first poked it with her nodachi, of course, since it might be a dangerous plant. With the hilt of her sword, the girl dug up what was in the ground and to her amazement, the thing that the boars were digging up was actually attached to the trampled greens. They looked like potatoes.

Pleased with her find, the samurai put a bunch of them in her inventory along with fresh thyme that she got from scouring the woods earlier that day. Aside from thyme which was quickly becoming her favorite herb for cooking, she had chanced upon a shrub with bright red and brilliant green fruits. One look and she knew what they were: chili peppers. Some small birds even picked at them, meaning they were ripe enough to use. Caerbannog put a handful in her inventory, careful not to crush them for they might sting her skin. So, she had potatoes, thyme and chili peppers; all she needed was fresh, clean water.

The girl took out her map. She remembered where a stream ran through the Greatwood, and she could only hope that she would not need a detour to get there. The sun was quickly setting and soon, she would have to build a fire for her own safety and comfort. Caerbannog followed her map as closely as she could, with only minor delays such as having to run out of the way of a rampaging pittered boar. Eventually, she found the stream. Kyuu looked left and right for any signs of danger since sources of water drew in all sorts of things. There was none, and so she bent down to get some water which she put in a container and promptly stuffed in her inventory.

She knew that she could not stay close to the stream for various Greatwood creatures would visit it at night. Thus, Caerbannog searched for a reasonably cleared piece of land where she could safely build a fire. It was within earshot of the stream, but she made sure that she would not be visible from it. Kyuu cleared a few stubborn rocks out of the small clearing and formed a circle using them. In the middle of the circle of rocks, she then put a pile of dry plant materials. Once it was set up, the girl took out the flint from her set of cooking utensils; it really was useful. She struck the flint with a knife, caught the sparks with the plant materials and slowly, but surely, started a campfire.

Kyuu watched the flames as they began to dance higher, careful not to put too much fuel otherwise she might burn the forest down. Once the fire was burning steadily, she took out her small iron pot and put some water in it. It would take a while for the water to boil because she did not want to make too strong a fire, for her own safety. While she waited, the chef took out the rest of her cooking utensils: a knife and chopping board, small bowls for ingredients and also for eating her soup later on, and a wooden ladle. She then took out some fresh thyme and began to chop them up. The fragrance of the herb made her stomach complain, but Kyuu had a mind over matter attitude especially since she was all alone. Therefore, although she was already hungry, the chef continued to work as she usually would.

The water was still not boiling but it seemed hot enough, so once the thyme was neatly chopped up, the girl tossed it into the pot. That would give it some time to flavor the water, which the potatoes could soak up later. Next, Kyuu took out the potatoes which the pittered boars unknowingly led her to earlier. They looked like potatoes, smelled like potatoes, and did not make her hand itch or explode in horrible rashes, so they must be some non-noxious plants that could at least substitute for potatoes. Caerbannog washed them thoroughly with some water from her container; they were very filthy, having been just pulled from the ground.

While she was busily preparing her warm meal, the last ray of sunlight vanished from the treetops. Soon, it began to sink below the horizon and a few moments later, it was completely gone. The Greatwood was covered by darkness for a moment, but when Kyuu looked up; she saw the moon and stars which lit up the sky. The treetops were soon awash with moonlight, and the girl was content knowing that at least, the moon was out. If ever her fire died, she would have a guiding light. Not that she’d let it though, but if worse comes to worst, and then she could sleep upon a tree branch with moonlight shining upon her face. And come morning, the sun would greet her once again.

OOC Notes: Chef post #1 in this thread.
Word Count: 1107	Tags: @dindeen

[Deleted]

Subclass: Chef | Tools: Cooking Utensils | Crafting: Spicy Snack - :: - Skill: Iron Stomach (Passive)

In the distance, beyond Caerbannog’s line of sight, Londenium was settling down. Shops were closing and adventurers were returning to the city-state so that they could safely rest for the night. But out in the Greatwood, the samurai was busily preparing her own meal all by herself. It was not that different from her lonesome days in real life. Ever since she was young, Kyuu’s mother cared little for her and just used her as some sort of accessory to brag to her friends. And when Kyuu stopped being ‘cute’, her mother stopped caring altogether. Not that the girl would mind. She’d rather eat take-out or go to fastfood restaurants than put up with her mother’s horrible cooking. Eventually, Kyuu learned to cook for herself, and for her father too, but he was mostly at work so he just did his own thing. But when their lives fell apart due to her mother’s departure, only then did the father and his daughter begin to depend more on each other. He actually took some time off when she was sick, listened to her stories about school and games, began to ask about the people whom Kyuu played with, and on one rare occasion, the girl’s father sat down and watched her play a game: Silent Hill. Admittedly, it was not the best game for normal father-daughter bonding time, but horror did not bother either Kyuu or her father, so all was well.

Back to the present: Caerbannog carefully removed the potatoes from their greens. She did not want to accidentally pull off a large piece of each food item since that would be a waste. Though initially she wanted to throw the potato tops away, Kyuu wondered if she could use it as a poisonous deterrent against dangerous creatures and in the last minute, she instead put the greens back in her inventory. With the potatoes cleaned thoroughly, the next order of business was to peel them. Now, this was something that the girl was pretty bad at. In real life, she’d cut herself a few times or shave off too much of the potato’s skin, leaving a sad, thin yellow thing in place of a fine potato. Whether it was the result of practice or the game’s system, she’d never know, but to Kyuu’s surprise, she peeled the potatoes just fine. In the end, she had a small pile of lovely food stuffs on her chopping board.

By then, the water began to boil and the fragrance of thyme wafted through the air. Kyuu put the potatoes in the wooden ladle and carefully dropped them into the fragrant water. She did not toss them in like some rushing cook, for the girl was fairly careful to keep everything in place. The clearing was small and there was little room to move in; dodging a wayward drop of boiling water was out of the question. Anyway, soon the potatoes settled at the bottom of the pot and rested there for a while. It was a pretty boring wait which only made her hungrier, but there was no point in rushing; her time was hers and hers alone. The thought of having made her own meal while she was out in the wild by herself made the girl a little proud. Just a little, because no matter what she accomplished, Kyuu never forgot that she still lacked many things and was unable to do all that she wanted. She knew that there were more capable people than her, and so the girl continuously strives with whatever task at hand was assigned to her. Whenever at school, for academics, even for clubs that she did not even like nor was a member of, the girl would try the best that she could- just because she could. There was no other reason for it. So at home, that was her only solace, her small world where she could afford to make mistakes. Few people knew about that side of her; to most people, she was a recluse who would begrudgingly do things just for incentives and good grades. But that was then, and this was now...

Looking up to the night sky while she waited for her dish to be half-done, Kyuu could not help but wonder how her father was doing. Surely, he would be worried; or would he even remember her? Since they were pulled into the game via ‘magic’, that very same thing could wipe the memories of their existence from those who were in the real world. She could remember him though; how he was always busy, was not around for anything- not even her graduations. But Kyuu never blamed the one person who always dutifully carried out his responsibilities. If anything, she wanted to be as strong and as capable as he was.

The girl’s worried thoughts were abruptly ended by the sound of bubbling water. Her dish was almost ready, so Kyuu took out the chili peppers, washed them and cut them up. A mix of green and red peppers was soon sitting upon her chopping board. They looked pretty lovely even in such dull lighting. Again, the chef put those ingredients in the wooden ladle, careful to use only her knife and other utensils to touch them. If she touched the peppers and accidentally rubbed her eyes, that would be quite the tragedy. Kyuu put the chopped peppers into her soup, removed some of the campfire’s fuel to weaken it, and allowed the soup to simmer.

While waiting for her dish to be thoroughly cooked, Caerbannog almost fell asleep. But soon the mix of fragrant thyme and chili peppers reached her nose, and Kyuu was startled awake. Fortunately, the fire neither died down nor spread beyond the circle of rocks, and the soup seemed to have just simmered completely. That was evident because the potatoes were still in good shape, but of a different color meaning that they were cooked. The chef washed the cooking utensils which she no longer needed and then she put them away. She then pulled the pot off the fire and set it down upon a different circle of rocks which would keep it steady.

“ Itadakimasu... “ the girl said as she pulled out a small wooden bowl and a wooden spoon fit for eating.

Thanks for the meal, she said- yet to no one but herself. Looking at the girl from a third person perspective, she seemed lonely but Kyuu had always been that way. She was alone, but not unhappy. A life of doing things mostly by herself had prepared her for The Catastrophe, so it seemed. That night, while various creatures scoured the forest in search of food, careful to stay away from the bright orange glow of a miniature sun amidst the trees, Kyuu had her fill of Chili Potato Soup. She put the rest of the meal in her inventory, had some water and then tried to make the campfire’s side as comfortable a place for sleeping as possible. But the Greatwood was a large place and the night was young; unknown to the samurai, soon she would have some company.

OOC Notes: Chef post #2 in this thread.
Word Count: 1195	Tags: @dindeen

[Deleted]

Subclass: Animal Trainer | Skill: Scout (Start) with [ Vegetation ] | Scouting: Frenmic Rabbit

As she lay there on the cold ground, the campfire was close to dying out. Caerbannog was supposed to be fast asleep, but a heavy feeling on her chest made her consciousness awaken little by little. Soon, it was not just a heavy feeling; she could feel some movement, like the pitter-patter of little feet right upon her chainmail. Kyuu slowly opened her eyes. The light from the campfire was still enough to let her see, and the girl did note upon her arrival in Elder Tale that her eyesight was much better than how it was in the real world. Well, even without good eyesight, she would have been able to see what was perched upon her chest.

Small, brown and fluffy with two long ears that flicked upon the slightest sound. Beady black eyes stared right into Kyuu’s very own blue orbs. The creature’s nose twitched, and closer, closer... closer... before the girl could understand what was happening, the frenmic rabbit managed to nibble on her nose. But both soon came to the realization of what exactly was happening, and the rabbit was just as startled as the adventurer who’d just woken up. It quickly hopped off Kyuu’s armor, and then it ran off and hid behind one of the trees.

“ W-what just happened? “ the samurai asked as she sat up and tried to rub the sleepiness from her eyes.

She looked at the campfire and noticed that it was dying, so the girl tossed some dried leaves into the flames, breathing more life into it. The frenmic rabbit soon emerged from its hiding spot, and cautiously approached the girl. It was the same creature that Caerbannog had scouted before. Much like real animals, it could have recognized her by sight, sound or scent. Due to their earlier encounters where she always fed the creature until it was too full to move, the rabbit was probably after her for more food.

“ Okay, come here, “ the girl yawned, “ Let’s look for something that you can eat. “

The samurai held her hand out and much like before, the frenmic rabbit scrambled up her arm and perched upon her head. It twitched a bit when Kyuu made a torch using a branch and the campfire, but the rabbit settled down as soon as their journey began. Caerbannog, of course, did not forget to put out the campfire so as not to set the Greatwood ablaze that night. She made her way to the stream and filled her container with water. The rabbit took that chance to wash its face and drink some water as well. It was then that the samurai noticed something odd; the frenmic rabbit looked around frantically before it determined that the coast was clear. Before the rabbit hopped back upon the girl’s head, it sniffed at the air as if looking for a certain scent too. It did not take a genius to understand what that meant: there was something fearful nearby.

However, the campfire was already out and so the pair had no choice but to move forward. It did not take long for them to come across another clearing near the water source, and it was full of lush vegetation. The rabbit happily scampered down and stuffed its face full of food. The creature inherently knew to stay away from certain plants, so Caerbannog did not have to worry about it getting poisoned or some such. But just as the frenmic rabbit was finishing its meal, a loud ear-piercing shriek rang through the forest. The rabbit’s ears perked up, and in an instant, it was gone.

Determined not to let any harm fall upon the creature which she so painstakingly scouted, the samurai ran after the rabbit. With nothing but a small torch and moonlight to guide her way, she found it difficult to keep up with the creature. Kyuu lost the rabbit for a moment, but another shriek, this time a familiar one, directed her towards a larger clearing. There she saw her scouted rabbit trembling behind a young pittered boar. It seemed that the boar was not so young anymore, for tusks were beginning to sprout on its ugly face. The rabbit let out another shriek when the boar charged into the foot of a tree, and when a bright display of data crystals rained through the air, Kyuu realized what was going on. That boar was killing off the frenmic rabbit’s family.

The loathsome creature then turned towards the source of the last shriek: the scouted rabbit. The smaller creature trembled on the ground where it sat, seemingly frozen in place. It put a paw forward, looked at the foot of the tree and then at the boar. But the boar charged in before the rabbit could make up its mind and actually do something. The raging beast thought that it would gore yet another helpless rabbit that night, but a larger, darker figure dashed in front of the frightened brown creature.

Level 2 Young Pittered Boar versus an agitated Level 1 Wolf Hair Samurai showing her wolf traits: ears, tail, fangs and all.

“ Screw levels, “ Caerbannog spat as she threw the torch at the boar’s face, “ Shinjimae! “

OOC Notes: Animal Trainer post #1 in this thread.
Word Count: 876	Tags: @dindeen

[Deleted]

Equipped: Starter Chainmail | Starter Nodachi (2H) - :: - Skill: Denkosekka (Buff - Start & End)

All the samurai could see was black and red. It was as if the world around her did not matter at that moment; she would strike down her opponent and that was that. The girl had never been so enraged in all her days in Elder Tale, and even in real life, she was not so easily agitated. The young pittered boar was, in one word, screwed. There was no way out of the fight even if it decided to run away. A difference of one level was not that big of a deal, especially not for an adventurer whose class allowed her to both give and take damage. Kyuu had her sights set upon a target and she had one objective in mind. Her wolf hair traits made it evident that this was a fight that she would not back down from, for although her ears and tail had appeared before, it was the first time that Caerbannog fought with her fangs bared.

Activating [Denkosekka] as she drew her weapon, the samurai dashed forward to meet the charging boar head on. Unused to being attacked itself and still reeling for that torch which burned its face before it turned to a charred branch, the boar eventually lost its momentum, giving the girl an opportunity to slash at her target. The speed afforded by her attack also served to let her reach her target even as it slowed down. There was no way that she was going to let that boar get out of that clearing alive. To the samurai, the boar represented everything that was wrong in her eyes. It did not need to eats rabbits to stay alive. It did not need rabbit skin for clothing. The burrow at the foot of the tree did not seem to be newly-made, thus there was no way that the rabbits recently encroached in that boar’s territory. That young pittered boar was just an asshole that wanted to show off its power and authority. She was going to put it in its rightful place: that is, in the sea of data that floated around Elder Tale.

The girl’s blade and rage cut clean across the boar’s face. In an instant, the aggressive creature was reduced to a squealing mess, unaware that anything could ever challenge it. It even tripped on its own legs like a drunken oaf after a night of revelry, and when the vile beast was down, Caerbannog thrust her sword at its side. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that the frenmic rabbit already dashed into the burrow at the foot of the tree, probably to gather whoever was left alive. But the samurai still had a task at hand, and she knew that she should not slow down her attack for an injured beast was even more dangerous to face than a mere aggressive one. She backed off to prepare for another attack, and that was when her opponent found its much needed opening.

Its HP down to half, the boar did as Kyuu expected. It struggled to its feet, quickly turned upon the girl and managed to hit the samurai’s torso as she was preparing to strike. The adventurer was knocked back and damaged, but some of the force was taken by Denkosekka instead. The buff ended and its increased movement speed went along with it, but Kyuu would not let such a thing deter her from accomplishing her objective. For a moment, the boar thought that it had a fighting chance... until the samurai so suddenly dashed right to the creature’s face, buried her blade between its eyes and twisted the weapon around for good measure. That risky attack was fortunately the last one which the samurai had to dish out that night. And then and there, the young pittered boar’s short life ended. It turned to an array of data crystals, much like the rabbits which it gored to death without mercy.

OOC Notes: Samurai post
Word Count: 660	Tags: @dindeen

HP	90%
MP	95%
Exp	0

[Deleted]

Subclass: Animal Trainer | Skill: Scout (End) with [ Companionship ] | Scouting: Frenmic Rabbit

Caerbannog sheathed her nodachi and wearily walked over to the burrow. The attack to her torso was still painful, but she knew that the pained feeling would go away soon. Steadily, her hit points regenerated as well since she was already out of combat. After ascertaining that the coast was clear and that the boar did not have any nearby friends, the samurai cautiously stepped close to the foot of the tree. She then leaned over to check the damage that was caused by the boar and there, she saw a most depressing sight.

The frenmic rabbit sniffed at the air, pawed at the ground, and upturned the soil with its little claws. It ran around the small burrow, looking for any signs of life, searching for survivors, even just one- but there was none. Their home was very small, and that one attack from the Level 2 Young Pittered Boar killed every frenmic rabbit that was bunched up within. Not even a single data crystal was left, for they all vanished into the air moments ago. The rabbit turned to the samurai with asking eyes, but it could not speak.

“ They’re gone, “ Kyuu softly said.

The small brown creature did not understand human words. It did not understand what was going on... just that everyone, every single one of its family- was gone. The samurai held out her hand towards the frenmic rabbit, hoping that the creature would at least recognize her aid. Though still confused, the brown creature ran up the girl’s arm and perched upon her head. With much effort, Caerbannog then climbed the tree which grew above the rabbit’s now-empty home. She rested upon a large branch; there, they would hopefully be safe until morning.

“ I’m all alone too, “ the samurai said as she waited for the rabbit to settle down and fall asleep, “ We can be alone together. “

OOC Notes: Animal Trainer post #2. Hoping to claim Frenmic Rabbit as a "pet" in next post.
Word Count: 319	Tags: @dindeen

[Deleted]

Subclass: Animal Trainer | Skill: Domesticize (Success) | Domesticated: Frenmic Rabbit

The break of dawn made sunlight shine upon the girl’s face, which woke her up earlier than she usually would. Caerbannog had fallen asleep with the rabbit upon her head and both of them facing east unknowingly. Though her mind was still cloudy, she remembered that she had a passenger at least, and did not move too much lest the creature fall over. The frenmic rabbit woke up shortly, and so the girl proceeded to climb down the tree.

On her interface, which the girl still could not make heads or tails of, there seemed to be a notification. Caerbannog opened it and there, she learned that she had a new skill: Domesticize. She read the description which stated that it allows the Animal Trainer to tame a monster to an extent where it becomes a full-fledged companion. She was allowed one slot in the menu for a monster summon, where tapping that slot allows for the summoning and desummoning of the monster. After a monster is summoned, no other monsters can be summoned. After it is desummoned, that particular monster cannot be resummoned for a full minute. If a monster is defeated in battle, it is permanently removed from the slot.

Taking into consideration that the frenmic rabbit upon her head had become attached to her, and her to it; and that it had lost its family, she tried to use the skill as stated, willing the rabbit to become a part of her player menu. It was fortunate that she was not in town, for the girl made many funny faces before she was finally able to concentrate enough to make Domesticize work. The rabbit twitched; perhaps it felt a strange sensation when the connection between the tamer and the creature was created. Afterwards, the aforementioned slot appeared on Caerbannog’s interface.

“ What’s a good name for you? “ she asked the rabbit which was, by then, sniffing at the air.

Thinking back to her books, a name came to mind: Fiver the seer. The animal trainer opted to use his Lapine name though, ‘Hrairoo‘, because it was slightly complicated like her own in-game name. Also, ‘Roo’ would be a cute nickname, she thought. And at that, the black-haired girl gained her first animal partner in the game. Feeling a little hungry, she put her companion to the test by telling it to find the main road. The rabbit needed a bit of coaxing, but eventually it understood what the girl wanted. It took a while but the pair eventually ended up at the roadside, and Caerbannog once again put the frenmic rabbit upon her head.

The road to Londenium was easier to walk on despite the long night that she experienced. She had someone by her side then, the samurai was no longer alone. Though she did not tell the frenmic rabbit, she swore that she would protect its one life. Unlike her and other adventurers, landers and creatures of the Greatwood cannot respawn at cathedrals. As the rabbit’s tamer, she did not want to be its master, but rather its companion. Soon, the gates of Londenium was in her line of sight, and so began Hrairoo’s journey into the epic world of adventurers.

OOC Notes: Frenmic Rabbit - GET! Named "Hrairoo". Thanks for the suggestion, Elkeid !
Word Count: 539	Tags: @dindeen