A Moment's Relief [Saeko/Sooty]

[Jin]

A Moment's Relief
- - - - - - - - - -

Just what the hell was going on here? Something like this was far too strange of an occurrence for John to consider it something that would happen to him. He didn’t even know what had happened. One second he’d been in the middle of…of something.

’Why the hell can’t I remember anything?’

And the next second he’d found himself here. In Elder Tale. He wasn’t wearing his headset; the supped up Virtual Boy would have been easy enough to remove, and he’d still feel it on his face even if he’d somehow been locked into first-person view on his camera. No, this was something else entirely.

Without a controller in his hands, he had no idea how to open up his status window or anything else like it. Hell, he probably couldn’t even use a skill if he wanted to. Not that it would matter much seeing as he was back at level one because the new expansion had just…

’That’s right. I was loading the new content before this. Is that what this is?’

Well, if this really was all because of that download, John was going to get to the bottom of things. Actually, scratch that, while he was stuck inside this game he’d be his character, which meant he wouldn’t be leading the frustratingly mundane existence that came with the name John Smith anymore. Here, he was simply Jin.

Jin’s first project would be to get the hell out of this crowded-ass town. People, especially the ones that panicked, were a nuisance. Jin didn’t need the hustle and bustle of a crowd to be impeding his thought process right now. All he needed was somewhere he could think, somewhere he could get his bearings, somewhere he could fight.

Running was simple enough, as was moving his other extraneous limbs. Looking around was a simple matter. Breathing remained at the same level of difficulty as if this were the real world. His body felt exactly the same, save for the stray lock of orange hair that fettered across his vision. That was probably the hairstyle he’d chosen for this character getting in the way like it appeared it would should it be given the chance.

Getting out of town was easy enough. With all the overgrowth, buildings were simple to hop over or scale. He was glad he’d started out as a sorcerer as the lighter armor and equipment granted higher mobility. Soon, the boy broke away from the remnants of what looked a little bit like London and out into a valley of sorts where he quickly found himself a large stone to sit on as he sorted through what he had to work with in his head.

He was obviously in Elder Tale, he could tell that much. After all, it seemed like a GUI had been merged with his field of vision – something he’d discovered on his trip to this location. Moreover, he was quite obviously in possession of gear that he wouldn’t have if he wasn’t inside a game.

Maybe this would be easier to comprehend if he could find someone just as confused as he was. Then again, he could probably just bash his head against a few creatures and try to figure out the combat system, which would be all he needed more or less. Either way, it didn’t really matter.

- - - - - - - - - -

Words (post): 559
Words (quest): 559

Credit to Jin of Elder Tale.

[Saeko]

Woodlands: A great place to be. Shaded from the sun in a majority of the area, with patches of sunlight beaming down from the sky here and there. This was Saeko's favorite place to be, due to the types of monsters in this place, and how fun they were to slaughter. She walked with her powerful stride, yet she still retained her sense of elegance as she moved. A soft smile had graced her face, while she thought about the previous fights she had encountered here. She recalled the guardian, whose in-game name was Sooty. She had heard that the walking wall would be in this quest as well, and thought it to be another good opportunity to utilize the guardian's skills in defense and the like. While he focused on defending, Saeko could charge out into the field, and slash everything up into little bits, as was her style in games like these. Having someone else take the hits for her, while she went up and did all the killing. Seemed fair to her.

Saeko arrived at the location, but immediately hid behind a tree. Her hand tensed on the sheath of her blade, and her teal eyes squinted to get a better look, from further off. She observed an orange-haired player, who seemed to be dazed and confused. She grin sadistically, as she figured just how easily she could kill this player. The best kind of prey is the kind that has no idea what is going on around them. It would give her the perfect opportunity to slash this player up a few times, before he even recognized what was going on around her. But, it was at that moment that she noticed something odd about the player, which turned her sadistic smile back to a more serious frown. Squinting harder, the in-game name of the player resembled the name of one of the other players that were to be taking part in this quest. She sighed silently to herself, and emerged from the cover of the tree. She walked towards the man with her hand now loosely on the sheath of her weapon.

Saeko stood a short distance from the boy, and leaned a bit to her left side, placing her left hand on her hip, keeping the sheath easily in her grasp. She gave a soft smile, before greeting the player. "Hello. I assume you're here for the quest. I am Saeko, and I look forward to working with you." She stated, before giving a small nod. "A pleasure to meet you, Jin." She squinted a little more, before closing her eyes and smiling more friendly-like. She hoped that this would deter the impression of a homicidal maniac towards an innocent young woman with a large bust. That would disguise things a bit more, until Sooty arrived. And, once again, she noticed that Sooty was late. That man had a habit of making a woman wait, and he should break that habit soon, lest he never get married in the real world, or even get laid. A woman does not like to wait, after all. She walked over to a nearby tree stump, and sat on it, looking up through the leaves, closing her eyes. "The guardian, Sooty, should be here shortly. He has a habit of showing up late." She said in a nonchalant fashion, before smiling at the sun.

[566 Words]

[Sooty]

In a way, Sooty was finding the game a fitting replacement for life in the real world. There were monotonous things that had to be done, like walking everywhere all the time and having little in the way of entertainment, and then there were exciting things to do, like quests and dive into the world’s lore. Though at the moment the guardian had found himself in another one of those monotonous moments as he made his way through the wooded zone of the Windsor Greatwood with little more than the occasional slime to catch his interest. It left one’s mind in a state of constant wondering, or it would have in a majority of situations if one didn’t overhear himself being insulted by a certain woman.

Walking slowly up behind her, he put a large hand on the top of her head with a tad bit of excessive force. “Oh I always show up late do I? And care to share how you know that after a single quest together Miss?” Sooty asked in a sarcastic tone. The young woman was Saeko, a samurai he had met on a previous quest a short time ago. While she seemed cordial enough on the outside, the guardian had seen her actions in combat. Not exactly something he’d call gentle but rather… sadistic. Realizing he already had a hand in the fire, Sooty sighed before ruffing up her hair and removing his hand. If I’m going to be burned, what difference does it make in the end?~ Then again, if she wanted to hide that nature from their new friend he may get off scot-free.

Turning to the sorcerer, the Wolf Hair grinned. “Yo. Seems like she took care of my introduction for me, which makes this rather easy. Mind filling me in on what we are planning to do out here?”

Word Count: 309

[Jin]

A Moment's Relief
- - - - - - - - - -

It figured that no one would ever be along in the world of an MMORPG no matter how hard you tried to be. There were just too many people in too small of a space to be able to escape a crowd for long. Sure, he’d thought it would be nice to have someone to bounce his questions off of just before this woman showed up, but something about the air she gave off made him a little wary, if not entirely suspicious. This was a game, and that meant people were going to act friendly by nature, but the orange haired boy didn’t take to kindly to being approached. Especially seeing as he was fairly certain this whole mess started not more than a few hours ago. He had a fairly good internal clock about these sorts of things, even in a situation like this.

”Whatever quest you’re talking about isn’t with me. I’m a little more concerned with how we got here in the first place. Besides, I typically work solo anyways.”

Jin caught a glimpse of the girl’s leer before she made an attempt at masking it and felt his feet reposition themselves against his seat on the rock so as to more easily jump out of the way of any sort of incoming assault. The arrival of the second member of the group – Sooty, as he’d been called by the woman – only serving to put him more on edge. He didn’t know what sort of combat rules there were on the player versus player mechanic to this system, but a good rule of thumb was that if he was out of town, he probably wasn’t all that safe.

All in all, he wasn’t looking to partake in any sort of confrontation, especially seeing as he still needed to get a hold of the combat system and how it may have changed since the patch. He definitely wasn’t dumb enough to go in on two people at once, especially since they were probably much more capable of taking hits than he was.

”Look, like I was telling the girl earlier,” Jin said, his tone levelling a bit as his eyes narrowed, ”I didn’t call anyone here. If you’re on a quest then by all means please begin, but if you think I’m waiting here for party members then I’m afraid you’re mistaken.”

Truth be told, Jin would probably be more than likely to help the group out if they asked for it. Sure, he was wary of both of them, but he wasn’t exactly the poster boy for being hyper cautious. If either of them did turn on him and try something, it would be a simple enough matter to escape. Beyond that, it seemed they had already more than adjusted to being in the game. While that didn’t make any sense at all to the boy seeing as he was still almost entirely certain that it had been less than a few hours since everyone got here, he wasn’t going to point out any disorders unless he was entirely sure they were there.

Still, there was the part of him that hated people just walking up and assuming things. It was the same everywhere in the world, even in MMOs. He wasn’t a friendly person, and he certainly wasn’t one to pry or try with boisterous engagements to conversation. Needless to say, he was more than a little irritated by this whole situation, especially seeing as now he had two people he needed to keep a close eye on just in case they decided it would be a good idea to pull something.

- - - - - - - - - -

Words (post): 607
Words (quest): 1166

Credit to Jin of Elder Tale.

[Saeko]

Saeko gave a glare to her would-have-been target. Who did this kid think he is? Whatever quest you're talking about isn't with me. Bullshit. Absolute bullshit. Saeko squinted at the kid, and put a hand on the sheath of her blade, which was on the opposite side of the child. This guy right here acted more dazed and confused than a duckling who lost its mother in the middle of a highway. Saeko mentally grinned, as she imagined herself as the front of a large 18-wheel truck, about to run over said duckling. And her sword would be the bumper. But, it was at this moment that she realized that the less people who knew about her homicidal tendencies, the better. Saeko relaxed her stance, and just looked at the boy, before she was about to make a comment about the remarks made by the boy. That was, of course, before a giant meat glove of a hand landed atop her head. Saeko jumped slightly, and nearly pulled out the nodachi, and would slice whatever just grabbed her head in two.

But, she stopped as soon as she heard that clueless voice of the guardian she had worked with once before. She glared at him as well, before turning back around to the other clueless guy. Surrounded by numskulls, as usual. She thought to herself. Saeko stood up straight, and took Sooty's little jab as though it were nothing. Saeko sighed, and shoved the meat hook off her head, before taking a few steps forward, crossing her arms, and shutting her eyes angrily. "Well, it seemed to have proven true twice in a row now, hasn't it?" Saeko turned a cold glare to the guardian, before continuing. "So I was right to make the judgement." She turned back to the confused orange-haired player, giving him the same cold glare. "And you. Don't start to think about what we're doing here, and why. Just get over it already." She had no patience already for the two. Saeko brushed her hair to the side, before walking over to a nearby tree to lean against.

"Either way, we have a quest here. So if you wanna stay out of this, Jin, I have no qualms. It will only be more experience for the Incredible Hulk over there, as well as myself." Saeko turned back to them, and started to stare intently at the two. They needed to make the next move now, since she felt that she had said enough. Saeko was already a bit annoyed with the two, since both seemed to neglect that she had actually greeted herself to the confused boy, as well as introduced Sooty for him. She saved everybody some time. They should be grateful. But, of course, common courtesy wouldn't have her run her mouth off in retaliation against them. She instead decided to fill in the guardian on their mission. Assuming Jin wouldn't have any part in it, of course. "Our quest is supposed to be just killing a few more monsters. Nothing really that complex, but the target today should be a bunch of rabbits." Saeko grinned, and snickered, before regaining her composure. She couldn't let word get out of her psychotic nature... At least, not quite yet. She waited for her wall of a partner to say something next, turning expectantly towards him.

[559 Words]

[Sooty]

Sooty grit his teeth at the woman’s response. Why the hell did I even bother joining up with her again?~ he inwardly berated himself. The guardian was a good judge of people and the archetype they fall under, and he had found it all too easy to label the girl. If someone wasn’t careful they’d find her teeth sunk into their leg, forcing them to the ground beneath her. Antagonistic paired with sadistic, a cruel combination that only became even more gruesome when one removes the fact that taking a life is permanent or even frowned upon. This world would bring out the worst in Saeko. Or perhaps it already has…~ Sooty realized with another sigh.



“You think anybody would follow you when you act like that?” the guardian was unusually adamant in his speech, slightly dropping his usual, almost carefree, tone. Perhaps that was the reason why he had grouped up with her again, she was dangerous not only to herself but to others as well. Sooty just couldn’t let someone like that roam free, untethered by someone’s morals. It was a matter of protecting people when someone snapped or, in her case, since she snapped. Shifting his great shield in the grip of his left hand, the Wolf Hair acknowledged the sorcerer’s choice, “Look, I don’t blame you, she can be a witch sometimes. One minute she’s all calm and polite then the next….” He allowed the sentence to spiral off without a definitive end before picking it up again. “But seriously, experience is experience. If you don’t do something you won’t have the strength to protect yourself, yet alone the things you want to protect.”



Looking over the sorcerer for the first time, Sooty didn’t know what to make of him. Was he still freaking out over the transfer to this world? Sure, such things didn’t normally happen but things will always take twists that one doesn’t expect. That was how the guardian had dealt with it personally. As they say, ‘Look on the bright side of everything,’ and he had found no issue doing just that. For instance no job market to worry about, something that had been a huge weight on the man’s shoulders since he had graduated from college. Hell, he could start up his own guild or company if he really wanted to. The fact was in comparison to their world, this world had nearly no limits. Death was a mere setback, your strength and ability could always be raised through hard work, and there were no taxes.



Accidently letting a small snicker through at that last thought, Sooty grinned to the sorcerer. “Anyway, it’s not like you have anything else to do right? You can think over whatever it is you’re worried about while you work. Exercise is one of the best ways to work out your confusion after all. After all we’re only going after, rabbits was it? How hard could killing some rabbits be? You could join up and complete the quest, gain some money and experience, and be on your way.” Glancing at Saeko, he gave a small sort of shrug. All I can do mate, he still chooses in the end. Unless you’re planning on tying him up and dragging him behind you.~

Word Count: 545
Thread Count: 854

[Jin]

A Moment's Relief
- - - - - - - - - -

Jin’s eyes narrowed as the girl placed her hand on the hilt of her blade. It was obvious she was anxious for a fight, and definitely not the kind of character Jin wanted to associate himself with for more than thirty seconds at a time. Out in the real world, combat was a form of art. It had a beauty and a flow to it unrivaled by just about anything else. In this game, though, something had perverted it. Before, he could face someone head on and only strive to prove the other’s equal, capable of reading the flow and understanding the motions. In this game that was the world, all that was left to show was a memorization of mechanics and the ability to cram as many motions into a given time as possible. There was no freedom of expression, no ability to create, and certainly none of the beauty that had been the combat he knew back in the real world.

Scoffing, the orange haired boy deterred his attention from her. Her strike would take more time to prep than it would for him to register a sudden movement out of his peripheral vision, and his ability to dodge the attack wasn’t something that he lacked confidence in. This girl wasn’t worth is time, especially if she lacked respect for anything that went against her plans. The entitled, arrogant attitude is exactly what Jin didn’t like about most of the people back in the old world.

Still the open nature of the guardian – Sooty, if Jin remembered correctly – was a bit easier to deal with. Perhaps with him on the field the purple haired girl would be less likely to try anything. Witnesses often deterred criminals without a mask, and anonymity was no longer a luxury that this girl had. Besides, Jin was fairly certain he could beat her in a one on one fight at this point. Rolling his eyes, Jin changed his glance to the tank as he was addressed.

It was true that killing a few low-level monsters, even without the help of a two person party, would be easy to manage. All it came down to was how long he was willing to put up with the presence of the purple haired nuisance. It probably wouldn’t be that bad if he handled them quickly, something he was very confident he had the ability to do.

”I’m not going to pretend I’ve been subject to some huge insult because of the arrogance of one girl. While I’m not all that inclined to help her, I’m perfectly fine tagging along with you,” Jin said to the guardian, completely ignoring everything Saeko had said to him.

”That being said, I’d like a few specifics before jumping head-first into this. How many rabbits are we planning on slaying, anyways? Furthermore, am I going to have to worry about dagger-eyes over here going PK in the middle of the fight? I wouldn’t really put it past her with that attitude, and I’d really rather not slap anyone today. Not worth my time.”

Mouthing off to the girl was probably just going to increase the chances of that happening, but he was entirely ready for that to happen if it meant communicating to the girl that he wasn’t going to take any of her shit. Game or not, this was still his body and his mind at play. He knew most of her skills were going to be offensive and her role was going to be an off-tank that could hammer out damage. That meant he could both outmaneuver and outdamage her, especially if it came down to a contest of who had the better physical ability. Analytically, he’d come out the victor of any serious scuffle that Sooty wasn’t capable of shutting down himself. Pulling out his sword and absentmindedly twirling it in his fingers, the blade eventually found itself in a reverse grip. If the girl wanted to play intimidation games, he’d show her how dumb of an idea that was.

- - - - - - - - - -

Words (post): 673
Words (quest): 1839

Credit to Jin of Elder Tale.