Breaking open books.

[Aka Kitsune]

Curiosity had to be sated, else it would drive people mad, and if anyone had a bunch of curiosity, it was Aka. Willing to take steps beyond the neccesary to sate her thirst for knowledge, she had broken rules to break inside an antique-shop library. Besides, what good would a library do if it was to remain closed off for those who were seeking its knowledge..? Who in their right mind would call it breaking in, if the shop was actually deserted? Having wandered through London in search of answers, Aka had now come upon a building overgrown in vines. The building itself wasn't huge, yet large enough to not have been used for housing. It fit the size of an old antique shop, estimatedly. The windows were mostly broken, save a few that had somehow survived the wear. Old glass lay scattered on the street she was now walking on, crunching beneath her with every step. For some reason, this building called out to her, caught her attention, and piqued her curiosity enough to make her investigate further. Rummaging around for a while, she found a clue to what this might've been in its prime time. On the wall a pair of hinges spelled the possibility of a store sign. At least, something had been attached there at one point. Time and destruction had likely blown the sign right off of its hinges, perhaps it was.. yes, there! Barely visible from vegetation, Aka found the stores sign on the ground. Digging it free with her staff, it read in half-decayed letters; "Books and goods!"  Opening her eyes wide, this could easily be a goldmine of information if she could find some books that weren't all dust. There was no holding her back, Aka had to get inside! Approaching the door,  Aka pulled untill the vines gave way. Then, without much mercy, she knocked the door off of its hinges, using a couple of well placed kicks. Since the door itself was half rotten, it didn't take much force at all. The thump was loud, and dust arose from the ground as the shockwave entered the shop. Coughing midly, the girl then stepped over the door to have a look around. The store was extremely dark and dusty. It was almost like breathing within a desert. The tail was immediately wrapped around her waist. Perhaps she could save it from some of the hurt. 

Already now she could tell that most, if not all, of the books stored here would be completely useless. As she opened the cover of the closest one, all the pages literally smoldered in front of her eyes, gathering as a pile of dust on the ground. Tilting her head sideways, she dropped the books cover, and started just randomly pulling them from the shelves, finding some pages here and there that were readable. Until she figured, that she was in the wrong section. All these books were merely stories or fairytales of forgotten pasts. That which she was looking for, were books on smithing and mechanical physics. Stepping through the store, Aka had pulled the tip of the dress up to function as a filter to breathe through... "Physics.. physics.." she mumbled, as she was making a mental overview of the placement of the different type of books. If anyone were to enter, it'd appear as if noone was there. However, upon further inspection, the shadows in the depth were moving, in the form of Aka. For her, reading in the dark wasn't entirely easy, but possible. For now, she was just trying to gather as many useful things as she could and bring them into the sunlight outside...


Word count: 614

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

One step after another, a medium-size male figure walked patiently through the even more ancient side of the already ruined city of London. He took each step with care, as if the floor itself would break out from beneath him if he pushed down onto it to heavily, and navigated his way through what he believed to be one of the main streets of the area. It wasn’t the only large path he could take, but it was the closest to where he entered and the road looked to go a very large distance. The player didn’t plan to make any confusing detours or take some winding path to his destination so the long road was his favored choice. If possible, he would have rather had taken the rooftops through the area but he didn’t have the agility to jump across wider streets just yet. Even for his level, the hunter was still quite limited in what he could do in the starting zones. Even after practicing daily, he found himself bumping into roadblocks constantly. One of those roadblocks was his subclass levels. The fool had focused far too much on beefing up his primary class that he left his others behind and it was starting to really bother him. If he had put some time into them and paced his training like he had initially planned to, then he probably wouldn’t have had to walk this far out from the main London zone. Dominos really stacked up on one another after a while it seemed.

Though it wasn’t terribly bad being sent out to fetch things occasionally by the Blacksmith he was learning his craft from. It gave the player time to relax, time to rest. He had been banging away at the anvil for so long that he didn’t even know what daylight looked like anymore until a few hours ago so he had took being sent on this excursion as being told to take a vacation pretty much. The cool open air was something dearly missed in that hot forge, as was being able to breathe. The smoldering heat was suffocating after a few hours of being in that pit. Yet it was worth it. Saber had been able to learn how to craft several items and now all he had to do was replicate his teacher’s work. If he could do that and bring all of his training to fruition, then Saber would most definitely gain the respect of the Master Blacksmith. However, it seemed like the older and experience veteran had discovered that Saber could be used for more than just helping him in the forge.

“Head to the run down district on the opposite side of this city and search for an abandoned looking shop known as the Smoldering Oil. I have an old friend who lives there. He had something for me that I’d like you to pick up” was what Saber had been ordered to do, turning him from an Apprentice to a Delivery Boy of sorts. It made Saber unhappy at first to be given such a task, as he wanted to stay in the forge as long as possible and keep learning. Although after Saber walked out of the crowded streets and into the quieter areas of the city, it wasn’t so bad. He didn’t mind it as much as he initially thought he would because of how rejuvenating it was. There was no one to bother him out here.

Bang! A loud noise caused Saber to halt in his tracks; scratch that last. Off to his front left down one of the side streets, a massive pair of loud collisions echoed into the still atmosphere. The first instinct Saber got was to draw his bow, but he held off on that. Instead he approached the street unarmed and positioned himself with his back against the corner building. Using his medium level skill, Hiding Entry, the Assassin disguised himself against the mixing shadows of the building as he eyed a small cloud of debris float around the entrance of one abandoned building up the street. He waited and watched the cloud disperse, expecting something to appear from beneath it. Yet it seemed the opposite had occurred; rather than breaking out of the old place, something had broken in. From where he was, Saber couldn’t see anything on the outside of the entrance but the doors were obviously missing, allowing him to see the black veil that shrouded the inside of the building. The player considered leaving it alone, but a thief was a thief and there was always a need to reprimand the unlawful even in a lawless land.

Uncloaking himself, Saber let his mind relax and began the short cool down time of his skill as he made his way up the street. The timer was just long enough to last until he reached the door, and as Saber stood in front of the entrance he had already planned to use it. Yet, he waited. Before bursting inside like a police officer with a badge and a warrant, as he wasn’t a police officer and didn’t have a badge or a warrant, Saber evaluated his immediate surroundings. The building had some old, shattered windows that had most likely broken due to mistreatment and age. They weren’t broken from the inside so Saber ruled them out as being part of the break in. The two doors were broken at the hinges and both lay flat just inside the entryway with some pieces of them broken off due to age and being unable to withstand the drop; meaning that someone really wanted inside. In the grass just to the side of where Saber stood was also a sign, revealing that the old building had once been a shop.

“Looting, huh?” A frown crossed the player’s face at the thought and he decided that it would indeed be best to prepare for a fight. The zone was player-vs-player enabled because of its distance from the core area so it was possible that Saber could get attacked if he wasn’t careful. Rather than be caught off guard, the player drew his bow and a single arrow before stepping inside, activating his hiding skill once more as to make him invisible to the untrained.

The moment Saber stepped inside, the taste of dust and mold filled his mouth. He resisted the feeling of gagging and squeezed onto the wooden frame of his old weapon, using it as a way to control himself. The place he was in looked to be a mix of a library and some sort of china shop, or maybe something else entirely. It was far too old inside to tell, but the numerous bookshelves and binded pages on those shelves were enough to tell Saber of one function the building had. In its prime, the walls would have been lined with the containers of knowledge and people would have come in to discover what was inside. Now, the large number of books sat without anyone to read them. It was far too dark to do any of that sort and it didn’t look like any of the books would even survive in the sunlight, let alone being touched. Each of the bindings looked like a dust trap waiting to be sprung. As much as he wanted to dive into them; he liked breathing.

A soft thud echoed into the empty room and caused Saber to look off to his side once again. It was a very quiet bump, but it was a sign of his target’s location. Rather than let them get away in the maze of shelves, Saber moved on his tip toes quickly over to where the noise sounded off. His steps were silent and he glided over the distance with ease. To his surprise, he was unable to encounter anyone and that held true until he reached where he had suspected the noise to have come from. At first, he looked down to the floor. Lying there, completely out of place, was an empty book cover with a pile of dust beside it. The dust was most likely the old pages, which meant someone had tampered with it. After the swift analysis, Saber looked straight up towards another soft pair of noises to a bit of a surprise. Down at the other end, there was a small figure thumbing through the books in front of it. Saber initially considered leaving the person, as they seemed to be only interested in the books, but then again; they were trespassing on an old building that belonged to someone else. Even if it was abandoned, someone still had the deed to it and he doubted it was this person.

Nocking a single arrow, Saber lifted his bow and pulled back on the string. The darkness didn’t permit him to shoot at a shadow to bind the person as he had initially wished to, so he would have to rely on another tactic. He aimed lower than usual, pulled the bowstring taut, and released. He fired his arrow at the floor, aiming a few feet away from the other person but close enough to get their attention when it landed. Immediately after firing the warning shot, Saber deactivated his Hiding Entry ability and nocked a second projective. This time, he aimed for the players chest. He didn’t fire though, but he held the bow as if he was ready to; drawn and stabilized.

“Freeze. Don’t move or I will shoot.” Saber spoke loudly, his voice echoing through the silent archways as if he was talking to the person in front of him as well as anyone else who dared to also enter the building.
“Identify yourself.” The demand was blunt and quick but there wasn’t any other way Saber felt comfortable speaking it. If the person in front of him was truly a thief and had ill-intentions, then there was no reason to be kind.

: Post Title :
-Catching A Thief?-

: Word Count :
1,664

: Skills Used :
Hiding Entry x2

: Tagged :

Saber, Unknown

: Notes :
Sneaky sneaky sneaky.

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Aka Kitsune]

Normally Aka was surrounded by events, people, objectives and next steps. This here resembled a treasure hunt much more, in the regard that she didn't know what could or would be waiting for her within the covers. It was exciting on one side, yet careful and patient work on the other. The mold and dust gave a conditioning to the air which wasn't found many places in these uninhabitet ruins. Though, most prevalent of it all, the silence. The complete silence was soothing, giving Aka the room to think and give in to fantasy. While gently tugging at the covers and leaving book after wasted book on the floor, she started to fantazies. The silence while walking there among the books allowed Aka to imagine how things had once been. A little bell above the door, signalling the shopkeeper whenever there was an entry or exit. Exactly when picturing this in her mind, she could've sworn it was as if someone crossed the door and the bell gave off a phantom ringing... An old shopkeeper, with years of untamed beard and hair, always looking a bit confused, but more than capable of finding you what you needed. There had been a table with chairs at the windows, allowing customers to look through indexes and read a couple of pages, before deciding wheter it was a book that they wanted. Specialty books would be stored away, and the shopkeeper would only find them on request. That was it, how could she not have figured sooner! The more prized and rare books would've likely been packed down into some sort of container somewhere, instead of on the shelves in plain sight. If that was indeed the case, the likelyhood of those books having survived was far greater, as they'd not have seen the same kind of exposure to air nor wear. A smile spread across her lips, as the shop somehow came to life within her mind. It was quite the cozy shop, too!... The smile was quickly replaced with a sigh though. In essence, Aka had approached this all wrong. Either the girl had to find a way upstairs, or start searching for an entrance to the cellar. Knowing that she was likely going to search through them both, Aka figured she'd start with the cellar. Since the windows upstairs were broken, it was likely she'd actually be able to somewhat breathe after having explored the dephts of the store.

...Thats when her search was rudely interrupted by a foreign sound. A sound generated by someone or something else, something capable of hurting her. It was like a loud clack of metal against stone, before the object would be sliding across the floor, making an odd sound with every little bit it traversed, before gently poking against a bare side to the sandals she was wearing. The tip was sharp, and the object cold. The realisation came sooner than she had expected, being almost unable to see the faint glimmer of the sun in the shaped metal. It was an arrow, finely crafted and likely capable of causing quite the harm if it had connected properly. Considering she hadn't been moving, and the door wasn't very far off, there could only be one conclusion. This hadn't been a shot fired directly at her, that much was for certain. The only plausible explanations, was that either it could've been a stray shot, coming from far away, or it was a warning of some sorts. Rather, it had to have been a warning, the angle for a stray arrow to enter like this would've been impossible. The arrow was an announcement. An announcement that someone else had arrived. Gritting her teeth, it would be a cold day in hell before Aka would allow anyone to come and spoil her work. All of her thoughts were racing, and it had taken her split seconds to make a deduction, when the voice of a male broke the silence. 

"“Freeze. Don’t move or I will shoot.”

This meant two things in essence. First, and most importantly, that the male in the doorway was armed with a ranged weapon, and that he was hostile. The second fact, that he wasn't going to shoot at her as long as she didn't make any sudden movements. If the player hadn't had any morals, she'd be lying on the floor with an arrow through her heart, bleeding out. It'd give her a few seconds to think and make a decision as to what to do, while he stated his purpose. Eyes looking around, she tried to identify every bit of cover she could. There were a couple of options available. Behind the shopkeepers counter, forcing the intruder to either fire arrows directly through the wood or move around to get vision on her. Another option was behind a bookcase, putting the bookcovers between them and hampering his vision, while still letting her move around. Or, the most obvious choice, towards the back of the room, towards the stairs. From there, the girl could either get upstairs or downstairs, making it difficult to give chase.

"Identify yourself!"

The request was blunt and forceful, demanding. There was no doubt about it, this guy was on the offensive, probably seeing himself as a bit of a police officer, out catching the bad guy, huh. Aka didn't like the sound of that, nor would she be playing along quietly. One thing was for certain though, he would be given her name. In a voice, not shaken or pressured, Aka spoke clearly yet softly. There was an undertone in her voice, almost inviting him to come play, while it also had a tint of fear. "I am Aka Kitsune, and I am not going to be bossed around by some whelp. Who are you to meddle in my affairs?" From fear, the voice had slowly gotten into a more tense tone. With the echoing of the question through the shop, the silence was quickly replaced by the sound of a single crackling thunder. In a flash, the girl had disappeared from the open spot, making it impossible to have shot her. Blinked away, like only Sorcerers could, she was fast on her feet too. He could hear her steps on the stairs, going upwards. So what was his response, what would he do..?

 
Wordcounter: 1058
 

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

Even though he was ready to fire, ready to shoot and take out whoever was at the other end of the bookcases at a moment’s notice, Saber waited and eyed the silent figure as he gave whoever it was a chance. He waited patiently for some sort of response to his demand, giving the other person a chance to recognize the situation they were in before he overacted. However, the urge to release the loaded shot was a difficult one to maintain. Deep within Saber’s very soul, he wanted to show no mercy to the thief he was looking at. He wanted to slaughter the invader and just end everything now before being forced to deal with any potential issues later. If the person at the other end was a player, then there was a chance that they would simply spawn back at the London Cathedral, leaving them with the punishment of losing their items to the person who caught them in the act of looting. On the other hand, if it was an NPC then Saber would simply pick up the items he would be rewarded with and accept the experience gained without a second thought.

The only reason Saber didn’t fire, even though he knew both outcomes of what could happen, was that he still was unsure of how the player-death system worked because of Elder Tale’s update. With people being trapped here in the game all of a sudden, what happened when they died? Would the person on the other side of the avatar truly die in real life? Real blood on his hands was something Saber could never live with. He could live with the blood of an animal, but a Human’s was an entirely different hunt to deal with. If he was going to really hunt a human, Saber would have to lock away his sanity and push it so deep into the recess of his brain that he would lose sight of himself until days later. By then, the hunt would be all over and he wouldn’t have any memory of it. And that wasn’t even the worst part. He wouldn’t delve into that as it seemed that holding his fire was the right choice. The person on the other end didn’t answer his shouts with a quest prompt, nor was there any symbol that appeared. All the man got in return was an introduction from a defiant woman named… Aka Kitsune?

With knowledge that it was a player, Saber relaxed the bow string he held slightly and narrowed his eyes on her. Rather than just put his bow away and persuade her to leave, he mulled over the thought of shooting her and crippling her for a moment. It would be just long enough for him to get close and disarm her, but he would have to be careful if he did. Saber knew of his high level and he also knew of the massive gap between himself and several other players. It had been barely a week since he had been trapped in the game and he was already almost near the second tier of skills if he remembered correctly. At level twenty-five, he could handle nearly every monster in the beginning area if he had the correct equipment. Although he didn’t have any such equipment to speak of so his damage output was crippled drastically because of that. Yet, his lack of power wouldn’t mean much against another player if he wasn’t careful. He may not have been at his full strength like he would have been when he sat behind a monitor, but Saber could still end the life of several monsters with a single shot, even when he didn’t perform a critical hit.

Sadly, it seemed the woman was going to be playing hardball. Before Saber could move or even say anything else to her, a clap of thunder echoed into the room and she was gone in a flash. The Assassin released a soft hiss at the magical ability and stepped back between the two bookcases behind him. As the shadows covered his body, he activated his Hiding Entry skill and stood there. The player knew mages all too well in his battles with them on his other character, which was a tank, so avoiding forward-direct contact would be his best bet in the tight quarters of the shop. Further, if she was higher than a level ten then Saber would have a real problem on his hands here. As a mage, by that level her damage output would be equivalent to his current output because of the stronger spells that would be available to her. If she was any lower than level five, then he probably would have to be careful as well. Players lower than five were difficult to handle because of their lack of in-game knowledge and limited combat experience, making them basically time bombs. They would spam random skills in attempts to make unknown combinations, which could be fatal if they landed in the right spots. If she fell into the range between the novice and higher level novice stage, then Saber would simply have to outwit his opponent as by then, most people started to get a grip on the game’s system. Due to the distance he had kept from the unknown woman, Saber wasn’t able to catch the level that would have been floating above her head, and that put him on edge.

Standing in the shadows as he considered his options, Saber suddenly heard steps to his distant forward right; there was a staircase. He glanced up towards the ceiling and flexed his jaw lightly as he listened; she was going upstairs to the next floor it seemed. At first, he considered chasing her up those stairs, but he decided to take another route, one that could put him behind her if he was quiet enough. The player deactivated his cloaking skill, as the woman would be out of sight anyways, and jogged out of the building to the entryway. He looked to his right and then his left, searching for the human innovations he had seen earlier. Two buildings were erect immediately beside the shop the woman was in and were of similar structure to the shop; perfect. Saber twirled his bow in victory and strapped it over his head before heading to the building on his right. He quickly hopped up onto the fence that worked as a divider and stood up straight, balancing with ease on the rotting four-by-four that acted as a nail post for the other pieces of the fence. To his right and up another five feet was the second floor window that would give entry into the shop, but to his left and much closer to where he stood was the ledge to the next-door house’s window. Using a simple path analysis, Saber was able to easily come up with his route. Saber hopped onto the window sill on his left and grasped onto the inside of the window tight, pulling himself upright against the house so he wouldn’t fall. Very carefully, he turned around and leaned back against the outside wall and placed his feet firmly just inside the ledge. He took in a deep breath and slowly lowered into a crouch. His legs tightened up like springs, collecting all of the man’s strength into his knees. Then with one hard shove, Saber launched himself across the tight space and reached for the higher ledge.

The power in his lunge allowed him to spring up high into the air and Saber got a few seconds of flight time before his hands clutched the window sill. The player narrowed his eyes and softly placed the bottom of both feet against the house, catching himself before he bashed into it with his body. He didn’t make a sound upon impact to his surprise, but he didn’t argue with it. The player pulled himself up and quietly pushed open the left hinged window, peeking inside to make sure the area was clear. When he was sure, he crawled inside the second floor of the shop through the open space and quickly closed the window behind himself. The player drew his bow again and whispered the words of his Hiding Entry skill, causing it to activate and make him nothing more than another shadow on the wall. In the upper floor of the shop, light only pierced through a few of the windows as the candles on the walls were still unlit. It was perfect for the assassin who was now on the hunt again for his prey. Last time he had shot the floor at her feet. This time, he had other plans.

: Post Title :
-Playing Hardball-

: Word Count :
1,457

: Skills Used :
Hiding Entry x2

: Tagged :

Saber, Aka Kitsune(?)

: Notes :
Gots me Climbin' and Hidin'.

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Aka Kitsune]

Not a single arrow had been fired at her since the blink, which meant it had done its job. With every step up the ladder, specks of dust that had been sitting underneath was ripped loose. With every step on the second floor, all the dust from the ceiling below was falling down like a grey snowstorm, making it impossible to see anything. It would likely cause him trouble at least, so just above the staircase, she crouched down on one knee. The fox-like ears stretched and turned, listening intently for any kind of breathing noise or cough from below. Any step taken on the wood that would give away his position. Aka had seen it for a moment, yet she didn't quite believe her eyes. Naturally, it would have had to have been the sun messing with the interface, right? There was no possible way that a player could've already reached such a high level, was there? It was sending a slight fear through her system, but also exhillaration and anticipation. If this did come down to a fight, she'd realistically have nothing to lose. Yet, if she was to by some miracle get lucky, a player of his level was sure to be carrying around a lot of value, right? Though, for her, the most optimal solution would be to get out of there in one piece... Aka had been sitting there for a while, listening carefully. Not a single sound was heard from down below, nor had she seen any attempt to sneak up the staircase. There were two possibilities in her mind, as the only way upstairs was the staircase she was sitting by. Either, the other player had given up and simply left, or he was sitting downstairs with the bow aimed directly at the steps. Either way, the best way to get what she wanted, was by getting outside through another route, and Aka had just the plan to do so. 

The broken windows she had seen before entering the building would be easy to escape out of. With a simple blink she could reach the ground in record time. Once outside it wasn't very likely that she'd be recognised as the thief she was accused of being. On that note, when the store was so obviously abandoned, why would someone come all the way out here to pretend to be police? It just didn't make any sense. They were in a situation where they had to make the best of things, rebuild a world they could live, love and have fun in. Why would anyone get upset over a couple of borrowed books? The puzzle of who the male stranger was, intrigued her. Deep in her mind, she wished to know more of what drove him to do what he did. To know why he clinged  to morals and laws that didn't even apply to this world. To know why he hadn't just shot her the minute he saw her. Clearly, there had been no disadvantage to just killing her, right? So something else must've triggered him not to do so. Everything was pointing towards a set of self-inflicted rules. A code of morals. Ever more interesting...

Carefully getting the staff fastened to the straps over her back, she could move about without having to control it. The most annoying thing about this place however, was all the dust that got stuck in her eyelashes, hair, and fuzzy tail. It would be such a pain to get properly clean after this. Sneaking across the hallway, she made sure not to make any sound that would alert those downstairs to her current positioning and movement. It was, for her sake, best if they thought she was waiting in ambush at the stairs. On the walls different frames to paintings were hanging, yet the paintings themselves barely had any sheet or color. Most of them were just that, frames, but one particular picture made Aka shutter. The dust settled over what was once the painting of a human made it seem almost ghostly. Deciding to open the door closer to her, rather than all the way down the hall, she opened the door into the room her playmate had just entered. However, he had already slipped into the shadows, and she couldn't make him out in the dark. Sneaking in, silently, she took a quick look around, noting her surroundings. Two broken windows, still closed and keeping the wind out after all this time. Through the glass, a few rays of sun.. To her right, what looked like the remnants of a bed were tucked away in a corner. It didn't look like a comfortable place to sleep. A closet, entirely filled with dust and decay, few pieces of completely unsuable cloth. To her right, the frame of a mirror and broken glass on the floor. It was obvious that this had been some kind of guest bedroom, and that the dust in here had not been disturbed for a long while. Turning around, she gently tucked the door closed, as her mind were processing the information. Broken windows, filled with dust, yet strangely, one of the windows seemed to have had its dust disturbed now that she came to think of it. For a moment, the thought seemed odd, then her eyes widened, as she spun around looking at the window. It was obvious she was startled, and it was very likely that he'd realise she had the feeling he was there. If he shot at her, she'd be unable to react. If not, it'd take but a few moments of being startled, before she calmed down. Afterall, in this situation there was nothing she could do. 

Aka froze completely and tilted her head forwards. Slowly raising her hands in the air, getting on her knees, and whispering out into the room. While whispering she placed her hands behind her head, in the most submissive position she could possibly imagine. At least, this was how people sat down when they were being arrested.
"Looks like you got me. I surrender.." If he wasn't there, nothing would happen, and she'd have just talked to a wall and sat on the ground like a complete idiot. Disturbed dust could've happened for many reasons afterall, but the difference in the two windows were astounding... However, if he was there, this was the most passive way she could surrender. One thing was for certain though. The window didn't seem to have been disturbed when she had entered the shop from the outside. Eyes keen to detail, a mind filled with curiosity. There was no way she wouldn't have noticed something even so slight.


Wordcounter: 1115

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

Almost a few moments after reaching the second floor, Saber began to hear movement coming around the hallway corner to his front. The noise had come much sooner than he had anticipated, but because of the situation he should have expected such a thing from the start. The woman would be on the move, there was no doubt about that. Due to her speed with that skill, he could only assume that she wasn’t going to just find somewhere to sit and hide either. The woman would be up and circling the halls, checking and trying to find a place to set up traps or something. That was the mindset Saber needed to have. Anything less and he could be caught off guard. Alert, aware, and analyzing; the three A’s Saber’s father had told him to always have during a hunt.

Initially the movement he heard only sounded like creaking and Saber realized that he wasn’t exactly alone in the hallway anymore, if he was at all for that matter. The player slipped an arrow from his quiver and carefully nocked it, prepared to strike or at least defend himself if something bad came out of the shadows in front of him. Though as he continued forward a few more feet, the other steps became louder, growing in intensity as something approached from the front. Assuming it was the woman; the player narrowed his eyes and paused. As he had guessed, his target appeared, causing Saber to switch from moving to focusing on remaining hidden. He relied on his skill to protect him for that and continued to eye the woman’s actions. She didn’t seem to notice him, which was a good thing but he could only wonder how long that would last, if at all. Further, she didn’t even seem aware of her situation as she almost boldly walked out into the open. This woman, Aka Kitsune, was light footed so she didn’t make a lot of noise but she wasn’t silent like the assassin was. Maybe that had given her a bit of courage. Then again it could have been a farce, as the woman turned and quietly entered the closest room to her, potentially trying to hide.

Taking that moment as a bit of a chance, Saber backpedaled very slowly, inching his way back towards the main patch of shadows. There was a window he passed, causing his arrow head to glimmer slightly from the light that pierced the glass, but the woman was still inside of the room. The light would make it difficult to see inside of the shroud so Saber kept a few feet away from it, his grip on the weapon he held firm. Patience would be key here, and he would have to milk every bit of it. If he had a knife, Saber would have snuck right up behind the woman and would have put the blade against the nape of her neck when she opened the door. However, he didn’t have any such thing. His bow was his only weapon for the time being so he would have to coax his target to come to him. That wouldn’t be to difficult now it seemed, as the woman was already coming his way. While Saber stood by and watched the doorway from the other end of the hall, the woman reappeared and turned towards him.

“Come to me… Nice and easy…” The thoughts rolled through Saber’s mind slowly and easily as he watched to woman come closer. He paced his mind, relaxed his body, and breathed with ease in what would have been normally a tense situation. Being so close to a target was tough for some hunters to handle. The stress of having to be perfect with every single little moment was almost impossible for those who hadn’t practiced doing so. In order to get within twenty feet of one’s prey, a hunter needed to be silent and completely impossible to detect unless they were looked directly at. Their breathing had to be light and they needed to almost hover over to their designated position because of how tender the air would be. The hunter also had to have their weapon ready. In such close-quarters, anything could happen.

However, this time around Saber got lucky. The woman hesitated just before the shroud and stared towards the window he had used to gain entry to the second floor. The window was closed shut and Saber had been careful to make it so, but something else had alerted her to its tampering. He didn’t dare take his eyes off his target to investigate it though, so he would look later. For now, he simply watched as the woman took the most favored option for Saber, and probably her own safest option. With her head tilted down, Aka Kitsune raised her hands into the air, knelt down, and then placed her hands on the back of her head while admitting defeat. Saber didn’t move though, he waited for a moment to ensure that she indeed had given up. It was a long moment, probably ten seconds or so before he finally stepped forward. He kept his cloaking active until he was able to slide through the light, bending it around himself with the help of his skill. When he was behind the woman, then he revealed himself. Even so, he had to remain careful. The player placed his foot on the mage’s staff and slid it back towards where the woman had come, putting himself between her and her weapon. Then, he placed the tip of his arrow very gently on the back of her neck to show that she wasn’t out of the fire just yet.

The arrow remained nocked and Saber kept both hands on his weapon, ready to hop back and shoot if necessary. Hopefully the woman wouldn’t try anything; Saber didn’t exactly like doing this kind of stuff. He felt like a murderer on the verge of killing some innocent person. Still, someone had to do it. If there was no show of any authority in the city, then he could bet everyone would slowly turn into savages. There needed to be order and rules to live by, just like in reality. If not, then they could say good-bye to their humanity as well. Out of everything he had lost already, his sanity was one thing Saber refused to lose. In this world, remaining sane was the one of the few things keeping him in one piece. For now, he’d have to figure out the same about this woman. Who was she really? And was she some savage? Or was she just someone who wondered into the wrong place at the wrong time?

“I won’t hurt you if you don’t try anything and if all goes well, I’ll be gone just as fast as I arrived. Keep your eyes forward.” Saber spoke just barely loud enough to be audible, keeping his voice low so that only the woman would be able to hear him. He still didn’t know if she was alone or not, but that would come with time.
“Answer my questions one at a time and don’t lie to me. I’ll know if you’re lying because of a skill I have.” Having such a skill was a lie, but with a glance, Saber realized she was only level one. If the Fox Tail didn’t have any previous experience being a higher level, then he doubted she would know whether he was telling the truth or not. He had to hope that she didn’t.

“First, is there anyone else with you? Second, what is your class? Third, what are you here for? Fourth, what are your intentions?” Saber paused and waited, listening for a response from the woman. It seemed like he was interrogating her and there was no doubt that he was, but it was all he could do. The Assassin didn’t have any prior knowledge of this woman’s existence before today and he didn’t know why she would be in such a dusty place. If she was after knowledge, then that was justifiable. However, breaking down the door in such a fashion was sure to draw attention; the attention of people like Saber.

: Post Title :
-Stealth and Questions-

: Word Count :
1,377

: Skills Used :
Hiding Entry

: Tagged :
Saber, Aka Kitsune

: Notes :
Captured the Fox~

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Aka Kitsune]

The moments in complete silence dragged on. The dust was settling down, and nothing had happened. Perhaps she had been wrong afterall, perhaps there were noone in the room but her. Quite a natural mistake to make. Sighing softly and taking a deep breath, Aka was about to get up and move on with her life. In that same moment, something sharp and cold touched her neck, forcing her to swallow as a few pearls of sweat ran down her cheeks. So he had been there the whole time, and had just made sure he wasn't walking into some kind of trap. It would appear the bastard was quite clever, in that, Aka probably would've approached the issue in the same manner had she been in his shoes. Showing that she was about to move her hands, in a slow motion she took them down and placed them on her knees. It was more comfortable that way, and now that he had her pinned in such a manner, as long as she didn't turn her head or attempt to get up, she'd be pierced before moving a muscle. This was quite annoying, but being a new player entirely, she couldn't afford losing some of the only items she'd been given. It'd make the start harder than it already was.

"I won’t hurt you..."

Pouting and letting out a soft snort, the things he said and what she heard were in completely different worlds. The way he had worded it, he might aswell have said that if he found any reason to at all, he'd eliminate her there on the spot. Then again, he was in control, and currently he made the rules. While she would rather die and respawn than letting him humiliate her, she'd prefer to get out of this with her health bar intact. Breathing calmly, she wasn't attempting to figure out a way to run or hide. In this scenario, her opponent would be far too experienced, far too competent and vastly superior in every way, to attempt anything funny. If it would've been any interesting, its likely she would've taken the chance, if only to be causing a lot of trouble. Being slaughtered mercilessly and without chance to cause any ruckus didn't sound interesting nor fun. Biting her own lower lip, time was slowly ticking away, as the two of them remained in this very tense situation. Though, to be fair, it was likely his stance was more tense than hers. Afterall, she might aswell relax entirely. So, his ground rules had been given. As long as she didn't break them, she'd supposedly be fine. The question remained, what did he want...? What was his reason for following after her, and pinning her down in the first place..?

“Answer my questions.."

More rules, and this one quite pointless. Obviously he'd be asking questions, and obviously he'd be wanting truthful answers. The real kicker however, was that Aka, being in his position, wouldn't have declared the use of such an ability. By asking her yes or no questions, and being able to sense her lying, it'd be easier to extract the truth by merely asking and then reacting to wheter it was a lie or not. Smiling to herself, she figured he was bluffing, especially because Aka wase aware that the likelyhood of anyone being capable of reading others thoughts, emotions or detect lies, would've made the game extremely unpopular due to the issue of gathering real-life-data through the game. Regardless, she had no reason to lie. t wasn't as if it'd change anything at this point. His behaviour was merely another fact that she added to the list of what she thought she had learned about him. Nodding silently in agreement to his statement, she didn't move any other part of her body. It wasn't as if it'd change anything at this point.

First, is there anyone else with you? Second, what is your class? Third, what are you here for? Fourth, what are your intentions?

Gently coughing to clear her throat, as this place was literally filled with dust, she began answering his questions. "Firstly, I came here entirely alone. Wheter there are more people in the building or not, I do not know. This is my first time coming here, although I've seen no signs of life... Second, my class is Sorcerer. I've got skills as a mechanic and sigilmaker to boot. Third, I was scouring the area, which I thought abandoned, for materials and research material. I came across this book store by coincidence. Fourth, my intentions were, as I stated, to gather research material. Since the shop appeared so abandoned, I figured I'd take everything that seemed readable and of use to bring it back to the crafting area in town. Other than looking for any other objects of interest or value." That was the honest truth. It wasn't like she had broken in with the ill intentions of stealing from the poor or helpless...

"If I may, now that you've captured me... What are you here for, mister stalker?"
Word count: 848

[Saber]

Do you believe in ghosts?

It seemed his empty threats had been successful in getting the reaction he wanted, as the woman began to speak and reveal the information he requested. Aka Kitsune was a level one Sorcerer from what she had told Saber. That would explain her use of magic, the thundering teleportation skill, and the staff. However, it also confirmed Saber’s fears. She was a low level mage and Saber doubted she had much combat experience, if any at all. If he had engaged in a frontal fight with her, he certainly would have taken some damage because of the potential brute-force magical attacks. Even if it was a little damage and only knocked off a few hundred ticks of health, it would have affected Saber’s armor. His clothes were already ragged enough and his bow wasn’t anything to be proud of because of its condition, so if he had been struck by anything other than water he could guarantee he would be forced to spend some money to replace everything.

However, as Saber listened to the fox tail speak, it seemed that her intentions were much different than he had initially thought. A thief would have been searching for money, expensive paintings, or anything of value in general. This woman was searching for knowledge of sorts and of course after seeing a library, she must have wanted to check it out and see what had been left behind. Saber wouldn’t deny, if he had seen an abandoned library he would have busted the door down too. He was just as curious as this woman was and didn’t exactly like being locked out of places. Though, he would have probably entered the building much more subtly then she had. The noise caused by the doors dropping was extremely attention grabbing. Saber preferred to remain unbothered by strangers in his adventurers and he rarely, if ever, brought someone along with him. If this woman was anything like she said she was, then Saber could relate.

Wandering around all by ones lonesome was fun sometimes because of all the places you could go. Unlike when you were with someone else, being alone meant that you were in complete control of where you went and what you did. Instead of wasting time asking your partner, or partners, what to do about a dusty old shop, you could make the choice to stay or leave within a few seconds all by yourself. If you chose to leave, then that was that. You didn’t have to hear from the person who wanted to go in whine and complain. If you went in, then you could take all the time in the world because of how quiet it would be. There was no rush to leave by someone who got bored easily, no obnoxious questions from someone who asked far too many, and you could leave whenever you wanted rather than being forced to drag that one person out who wanted to stay behind. The positive aspects of being alone were numerous, but Saber also would not deny that being in a group was fun too.

For now, he would have to believe the woman as that was all he really could do without any intelligence of his own. Saber hadn’t be stabbed, shot, or shocked from behind so far so her being alone was probably the truth. He also had not heard or seen anyone else in the building or around it while he was moving about and making his way towards the second floor. No one had come to her rescue and she hadn’t shouted anyone’s name when she fled or now, nor had she resisted him since she knelt down. Compliance was an easy thing to get when you were in control of a situation, and that made Saber wonder what the woman would have done if she wasn’t alone. Would she buy time for back-up to arrive? Would she shout? Or would she simply make a run for it and hope she could meet up with her friend, or friends? It was all hard to say, but Saber didn’t fret over the possibilities to much as he had other issues to worry about.

After explaining herself and revealing her plan to Saber and stated that she was here simply for informational purposes, the fox tail Aka Kitsune seemed to be interested in him now. As much as he felt like answering her question, he held his tongue. He lowered his chin and hooked the scarf he wore onto his nose, covering the lower half of his face once more just in case the woman got courageous. He had gained the information he needed from her and there was no need to return the favor. Saber was not required to answer the question directed to him and he had no intentions of doing so in the first place. This woman was an unknown element in his life at the moment, and that element had no control over his decisions, it also made him feel awkward. He had come simply to make sure she didn’t have any evil intentions for the place and after discovering that she indeed did not, it was time for him to go about his own business and be on his way. The player had his own agenda for the day and was currently a few minutes behind the schedule he had given himself due to the little excursion the had taken to this place. With that in mind, Saber pulled the sharp, metal arrowhead off the woman’s neck and pointed it at the floor to his left. He took a step back and slowly relaxed the string of his bow, releasing the tension he had put into it, but he kept the arrow he held nocked for an extra few moments just in case.

“I have my reasons and you have yours. With that being said, I have fulfilled my objective of coming here and I must be on my way. Good day, miss.” Saber quickly slipped the arrow he held back into his quiver and strapped the bow he held across his chest. With his gear packed up, sort of, Saber decided it was time to go. He sprinted passed the woman and down the hall towards the two windows which allowed light to shine through the shadows at the other end. The window he picked to move towards was the one which would lead to the street. Upon reaching it, he paused in front of his exit just long enough to pop it open, swinging both window shutters open wide. When the path was clear, he placed his hands on the sides of the wall border, stepped up onto the window ledge, and leapt out into the open space without fear. The wind slapped against his face, blowing the two ends of the scarf annoyingly into the air behind him and lifted his top shirt slightly. As he came down onto the hard, broken up pavement, the player tucked into a roll and dispersed the fierce impact all across his body as to not cause himself any harm. Once he was on the ground, Saber quickly popped back up to his feet and began to walk patiently back the way he came. He glanced up at the sun and used it to calculate the time he had lost. It hadn’t moved very much, making such a thing difficult, but soon he would have a device which he could use to track the time.

: Post Title :
-A Questionable Escape-

: Word Count :
1,253

: Skills Used :
N/A

: Tagged :

Saber, Aka Kitsune

: Notes :
The seeds have been planted~

Coded By Saber of L33T T3@M

[Aka Kitsune]

Things had slowed down, yet the tense situation was still very much in play. The arrow pressed against her neck had created itself a little mark as she had, accidentallly, moved into it a bit while trying to sit properly. The pearls of sweat had long since disappeared. Aka had said her peace, the truth and honesty her allies in this. If this wasn't good enough, she'd be executed in a mere moment. If not, then she'd probably be allowed to leave. The stranger seemed to have lost himself on an associative trail, where her words caused him to think of things he himself had done. In that respect, perhaps they were more alike than she had first anticipated. Well, more alike than complete opposites at least. Some time passed like this, before the pressure of the arrow was released, and freedom bestowed upon her again. Apparently, she wasn't all unlucky, and she'd have some of her items stilll. It really did seem like she'd have to catch a couple of levels if she was to be any kind of contender in this game. Being this powerless and helpless wasn't befitting of her dreams...

I have my reasons and you have yours...

No name was given. No face to remember by. Only knowing of his class and his level. Realistically, she'd have no way of ever tracking him down, while he'd have plenty of opportunity to find her later. For him, a decent enough outcome. For her, she had gained absolutely nothing from their little encounter. Just sitting there in silence, she watched with disinterest as he disappeared through the window. So much time wasted on something that was only truly interesting while she had thought she had a chance at going up against him. After that, the outcome was pretty much settled byy the gods, written in stone, propecies in ancients pasts, whatever caught their fancy. Stretching her limbs and slowly getting up standing, she had a look at the window. Following him and getting herself killed was always an option, just not a very good one if anyone was to ask her. A silent sigh left her lips as she shook her head, turning around with her back to the window and opening the door to the stores upper hallway. Their ways going in opposite directions, it wasn't very likely that she'd ever learn more of this cloaked bastard. A pity, really. There was a bit of mystery and unanswered questions about him that she'd have liked to dig deeper into. Alas, fate was once again cruel. Tracking through the hallway, she returned downstairs to look through the books. Gathering a couple of interesting titles such as Mechanical Gears, Leverage involved and Inventions for dummies. While most of the books didn't have many pages that were readable in them, perhaps she'd be capable of finding something of slight usage, or even something that'd help her improve upon her own theories for crafting new items. Tugging them into her bag, Aka went back into the sunlight. It had been almost two hours since the stranger had left her, and it was getting darker. While the search hadn't been fruitless, she was still disappointed that she didn't get to return to her own little area with more goodies. Perhaps some other time, no?


Word Count: 555