Going Down? [Metro]

[Nala]

Hugging her tail close, Nala rubbed her cheek against the fuzzy thing. It was late at night and while she hated to admit it, she was lost and alone in the city’s underground.

Earlier that day, the Fox Tail had decided to go for a leisurely stroll around town, nothing fancy, just a walk to take in the beautiful place. It was crisp and warm during the day where the sun touched, she loved such things. Her brothers were getting so clinging as well, but could she blame them? After all, just that morning she had confessed that she was leaving the old building that they all shared to find a place of her own. The poor guys were so overprotective, but she needed a place to call her own, somewhere she could fix things up without them breaking it again and keep cleaning. Just thinking about it again made her wistful.

Sad, excited, happy, she just couldn’t decide on an emotion to stick with about how she felt about moving away from them again. It was going to happen though, whether any of them liked it or not. These tunnels underground though, this was not the way she had in mind of spending her time, she wouldn’t make them her home in a hundred years. She could remember it now, while walking, Nala had come upon what looked like a sturdy home, well built, the inside was clean and no one lived here. That should have been her first warning sign, but she just didn’t listen.

After heading inside, the floor boards creaked, but again she ignored it further, just thinking that they were loose, and that was the reason no one chose to live in such a lovely home. As soon as she hit the middle of the living room however, all hell broke loose, or rather, all boards broke loose. With a short scream, the very floor below her gave out and sent her down tumbling to what she at first assumed was her doom. Her health dropped down into the red zone, blinking in distress, but she survived the fall, it left her groaning in pain, but she had survived.

Looking up didn’t do much for her, everything was pretty dark considering the distance she fell, but that didn’t keep her from trying to call out for help. The place she had gone to visit had been in a remote part of town, so either no one heard the damsel in distress because she was just too far down, or there was no one around to hear her. Just her luck. Letting out a long sigh, Nala knew she couldn’t just stay down in the tunnels trying to survive since there was no way to climb back up, so instead, she walked some more. She would move along the tunnels until something should stop her. Or someone.

---

Word Count: 481

[metroexibit]

Metro was on his way down town for the third time today. He had been asked by a local vendor to retrieve a certain item from the underground tunnels. Thing was the man never specified what the item was and when question about it the question was quickly dismissed and ignored. He was baffled at how to approach this since the only clue to where it was seemed to be that he stashed it somewhere in the underground tunnels. He approached an old run down building on the outskirts of downtown. He entered, doing his best to be careful since the building seemed to look like any minute now it was going to collapse onto itself. Blue eyes and red eyes were have a discussion about this so called quest and why there even trying. To be completely honest he didn’t care for the quest very much. He hated how little detail he got pertaining to accepting and now he had to go crawl around in the tunnels under London. His previous adventures in the tunnels resulted in him getting over whelmed by two swamp crocodiles. He was only level 13 assassin himself along with the enclosed space of the tunnels doesn’t go down well when your class thrives on mobility. He opened a trap-door that was on the far side floor of the building. He climbed down into the depths of darkness and stopped as he looked out into both directions of the tunnels. There was light flooding the tunnels only threw the hatch he had opened. The further he looked the darker it got and that alone worried him. That was another thing he had to worry about down here. His severe lack of sight was going to be a problem. The last two times he came here he had a lantern with him but it broke on his way out while trying to escape the crocs. He started to shuffle along the floor and leaning on the wall. He tried to tune out his own vision and focus on the sounds around him. Since noise echoed off the walls it wasn’t very hard, he was thankful he could mask the sounds of his footsteps. If he couldn’t then he would have to decipher between his own footsteps and those of another. “this sucks, why didn’t we just wait until we were able to find another source of light? Now we cant see a damn thing when there could be a crocodile around every corner!” screamed red eyes. Metro had to admit his words made a lot of sense. He needed to do this however, blue eyes was on his side when it came to that. He wanted to test his own limitations then push past them. Putting himself in a situation where he would be completely useless because he couldn’t see would be a lot worst if he didn’t practice. He is going to conquer the world one day so he had to be ready for anything.

He reached a turn and stopped in his tracks. He heard something moving behind the corner. He peered around the corner, not enough to see the thing making the noise but enough to see that there was slits in the top corners of the tunnel. He figured this must be part of an escape rout designed to evacuate civilians. He reached behind him and pull out his bow. Then he flipped up his hood on his cloak while he pulled up his ninja mask. It’s a black piece of cloth wrapped around his neck so when he pulls it up it only covers his mouth. He then noosed an arrow in his bow and stepped out, pointing the bow now with a readied arrow toward the figure. He froze in his tracks when he realized it was a person. With the low light in the tunnel it was hard to get a read on the persons physical details but he could tell it was female. “player, PK or person of the land? Answer with haste for the next few seconds could cost you your life.” He didn’t mean to shoot this girl and he could hear blue eyes glaring at him for threatening a women. Blue eyes usually despised the human race so why he was glaring at him for this was beyond him. Red eyes however was thinking some very unfavorable things like shoot her and loot her body. All three of them never really understood what to do when it came to women. They have always been so preoccupied that a situation involving one never came up. So when in doubt stick with what you know and that for metro was distance

[Nala]

Having only gone out to the forest and swamp, Nala was a bit more than frightened of these dark tunnels. Her ears laid flat against her head and no matter how quietly she moved, it seemed as if each one of her footsteps were that of a giants in these echoing tunnels. Hugging her tail a little tighter, she jumped at a noise in the distance and quickly swung around to face the potential threat, but in the dim light all she could see were rocks and debris. "I-It's okay, they're not some sort of sewer crocs, just some falling rocks trying to scare the bajeebers out of you..." She told herself this multiple times to try and calm herself down. While it was hard to surprise her, it wasn't as difficult to scare her, and this tunnel was doing a pretty good job of that.

It was times like these that she really wished she had her clingy brothers around. They were older than her and their classes were actually meant for battling. Well, accept the cleric, but he could help her survive and still do a bit of damage! For herself, she was just an enchanter, one of the best supports to have around for crowd control, but the weakest to take on in an actual fight. That was part of the reason she had chosen to wield dual rapiers as her weapons instead of a grimore or staff like other casting classes, she wanted to be able to fend for herself better in a fight.

Yiping, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when someone else called out to her. Thoughts scattered, her tail bristled at the threat and her own fear for what in the world someone else would be doing down in these tunnels. If she hadn't been so frightened by the darkness and situation prior to this, things might have turned out differently, but in her panicking state when she saw the bow pointed at her she immediately wanted to flee. The only class she knew that wielded a bow were assassins, she had even met one named Saber before and he was quite strong. Not wanting to get assassinated under the streets of London themselves, Nala quickly flung her hand out to cast Inversion, a spell that would turn whoever it 180 degrees before she turned around herself to flee for a safer tunnel.

---

Word Count: 399

[metroexibit]

Metro was a little taken back as this what look liked some sort of caster. Since she went and cast a spell at him so he spun around on his heels. He was taken back a little bit but quickly regained his senses and turned to chase down this girl. He saw as she ran in the opposite direction and followed suite, sprinting at full speed until he noticed she was coming up on a huge gapping hole in the roof so that light eliminated her. Her shadow stretched out behind her. Perfect thought metro as he reached out his hand and yelled “shadow binding!” this caused shadowy tendrils to wrap around her shadow, holding her still and in one place long enough for metro to catch up with her and tackle her onto the ground. he had no idea why he suddenly felt that he needed to get to her. Blue and red eyes were both being abnormally quite as he pinned her down. “really, I ask you a question and you shoot me with a beam of light? That’s not very lady like.” He said. They were both in the light now so that he could see her more clearly. Since he still have his mask and hood on he doubt she would see much but a criminal but he saw a cute fox-tailed girl, afraid and alone in the tunnels of the underground. Now metros hole life he has never had what you would call a relationship. He didn’t care much for other kids his age partly due to the fact that they mocked his insanity. It wasn’t that he didn’t have crushes and things on the contrary he actually had a lot of them. He liked to refer to himself as gender-non-specific due to the fact that as long as someone was nice to him he would be nice back. Although he preferred girls he also thought that some guys weren’t so bad on the eyes. He finally looked her in the eyes and realized just how this would look to her. He was about to get up when he heard a splash near by. He put his finger to his mouth as to gesture her to be quite as he slowly started to get up off of her and look around. He heard a splash again and again. It was getting closer. It came from the stream of water that flowed down the right side of the past they were on. He then saw noticed a croc start to struggle his way onto the path behind the girl. Then one by one the crocs started to climb up onto the path. Metro then on instinct reached out his hand at the girl and said “listen I know we got off on the wrong foot but right now I need you to put all your trust into the kindness of strangers okay? Just grab my hand and keep your eyes on me don’t look away got me?” he needed her to grab his hand soon or they were in big trouble

[Nala]

One moment, Nala was fleeing for her life so she thought, then in the next, she was brought to a sudden halt! Squeaking, she fought with herself for a second, confused on why her body wouldn’t go forward. A quick look behind her took care of that question however. Something, snagged onto her… her shadow??? Yes! Somehow, something was snagged on a shadow that was cast from her passing under what she thought would be a better lit passage so that she’d be able to see where she was going and escape more easily. Yet it had worked against her and got her caught instead.

Staring wide-eyed, all she could do was watch as the stranger in the mask got closer and closer until he was nearly on top of her. That was when the binds seemed to just dissolve. While she tried to make a break for it, as soon as Nala had taken one step away, the other player tackled her to the ground. “P-Please nuuu!” Worst things than death jumped through her mind, truth be told that was one of the easier ways she would be able to get away- through dying. For all she knew they would torture her and keep her down here in a cage to poke fun at for their own twisted entertainment, or make her cook them food that actually had taste or else they would tickle her until she cried. The first thing whoever it was that had captured her did though, was tell her that she wasn’t acting very lady like. Considering she was in a complex maze of underground tunnels, where no lady should be, the reprimand wasn’t really taken all that seriously. The whole situation was unlady-like!

“I- I” Before she could get very far, the person who she now assumed was a male from the lower tone shushed her. Yes, called her unlady-like then shushed her. Didn’t he still want to know the answer to his question? When she started to hear the sound of splashing echoing off the enclosed walls, Nala understood why she had been shushed. Strange sounds coming from dark tunnels were never a good sign usually, and even if she didn’t know it for the moment, the streak continued when a big gleaming set of teeth appeared out of the darkness. While she was scared, and extremely frightened having someone force her to the ground then tell her to shush up, the sounds behind her caused her to at least look up to her would-be attacker.

At first, Nala recoiled from the offered hand, afraid of it. Hearing the scaly scraping sounds against concrete, she gave the offer a second thought. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she would choose the one that decided to offer a helping hand… so maybe they weren’t all bad, no matter what their intentions were for her. “Wh-What..?” She wanted to ask why was he here, what did he want, what was behind her, but something told her that she wouldn’t want to know the answer to at least one of those questions, if not two, so she only ended up asking a vague question.

---

Word Count: 530

[metroexibit]

Metro was relieved when she took his hand. He didn’t understand why he was helping her. The best course of action was letting her go and making a break for it alone. Leaving her to fend for herself but then he remembered that she didn’t attack him when he pointed his bow at her. She simply cast a confusing spell and made a break for it. Maybe she didn’t have the heart to kill people or she was just to weak to do anything about it. Ether way he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if he let her get torn to shreds by crocs. The image alone would haunt him even if she respawns. So he held tightly onto her hand and led her away from the crocs. It was difficult for him to see but he kind of remembered where he came from. He just needed to get to the ladder and there home free. The tricker part was that he was now carrying dead weight along with the fact that a hungry croc could be behind every corner. He smiled and figured it just added to the fun. His day to day grinding was getting a bit repetitive so this was a fortunate change of events. He himself although focused on getting out couldn’t stop thinking about her hand. She actually took the hand of a guy who for all she knew tried to rape her. She was an odd one but considering the circumstances he figured it was an expected response. It meant she didn’t want to die just yet and that was good. She would have to hold on to that if shes going to make it in this world. He blushed a little as he turned his attention toward her hand. It was soft and warm, he had never held someone’s hand before so it was nice. He quickly shook the thought as he turned a corner and saw the ladder. The hatch was open so light flooded the tunnel. He was slightly relieved and terrified at the same time. Only one of them would be able to make it up before the crocs got here. He knew red and blue eyes both knew what he was thinking and started saying “she isn’t worth it, you just met her, why start caring for someone else now?” he knew they were pissed off by his decision but he wasn’t going to budge on it. He then saw a croc start to slither its way onto the path. “close your eyes and don’t open them until I tell you okay?” yelled metro toward his lady friend. He knew how ugly the crocs were and how terrifying they look. They were one of the lesser desirable creatures and metro likes to think of them as one of the darker creatures that hide in the dark. He then yanked her hand up so she was next to him and pushed her ahead of him. “theres a ladder right there take it to the surface and don’t look back. Ill be up there in just a moment so just go!” he actually had no idea if he was going to make it up there or not. It hardly mattered since he knew he was going to die sooner or later and might as well die while helping a girl. It seemed slightly ironic that he was helping the very people who damned him in the first place. He knew that there were nice people out there so he couldn’t hold it against them. His quest for world domination wasn’t going to just stop if he dies. He’ll just respawn and try again, no harm done. He liked how death wasn’t an option in this game it made his kinda relieved.

He then stomped on the crocs snout as it tried to climb up, it flopped back into the water. Metro then turned around to face the crocs. He could see five of them but there could be more. He knew he wouldn’t be able to handle them all but he could buy her enough time to get out of here. How chivalrous he was being, it was completely out of character and he liked it. It felt good to help someone even though his life might end. He reached back and pulled his bow over his head. He thought “this was going to be interesting.”

[Nala]

"O-Okay...?" Being the type to trust easily, Nala did as the stranger asked, shutting her eyes tightly to await the command to open them. Despite him trying to keep her 'in the dark' about the danger they were in, she could already tell that something bad had definitely happened. If the numerous splashes and hissing wasn't enough, the urgent tone in the boy's voice alerted her just as much to the coming danger. Squeaking when she was suddenly yanked, the Fox Tail clung to the hand that was guiding her forward just to be forced to let go when she got shoved ahead. It wasn't exactly necessary for him to tell her about the ladder because her epic balancing skills caused her to fumble forward and almost face plant into the concrete again if the ladder hadn't been there for her to fall onto.

At first, Nala started to climb up the metal ladder, in a rush as she thought the boy would be right behind her, but then a thought struck her. Quickly, she hopped off of the ladder, her foxy tail fluffed up as she backed against the cold ladder. What had went across her mind was that he might try to take a gander up her skirt, which would be totally inappropriate even given the dire situation she assumed they were in, but it could happen none the less! "N-No! You're gonna peek, y-you go up first!" Truth be told, she was the one who wanted to take a peek at just what they were facing. She wouldn't though. He had told her to keep her eyes shut until he said otherwise so she would do as requested.

Still, as a large splash greeted her ears, she knew that something was attacking them so she took out the twin rapiers she wielded as her weapons to defend herself as best she could. "I-I'm an enchanter by the way! Please, at least tell me what I can do to help!" She thought he might confuse her with a swashbuckler given her weapon choice, so that cleared the air. Hopefully the first thing he would tell her was that she could open her eyes, it would make fighting whatever they were up against so much easier if she could see where to throw her spells.

---

Word Count: 386

[metroexibit]

He noosed one of his arrows onto his bow and fired it. He shot arrow after arrow as he backed up toward the ladder. He went to noose another arrow when he heard her say something about looking up her skirt. “Don’t flatter yourself hunny, im not that kinda guy.” He said as he shot a poison arrow into one of the crocs mouth. He was actually kinda relieved that she was an enchanter. He new very little toward there skill set seeing as how he had never met one in person but since he was going to lead this world he looked into that class just like the other. “well you know it would help if I could see what im shooting at. I don’t care if you hit me just try to light these bastards up for me okay?” he went to noose an arrow when one of the gators jumped out of the water and snagged his ankle. He stabbed the thing In the snout and pried his leg out of its mouth. That bite took out a rather large portion of his health. Almost half of it to be exact, these things were tough. There scales acted as armor plating so not only did they hurt like a bitch but they could take a beating. He wasn’t doing much damage ether, that’s when he got an idea. “is there anyway you can help me do damage? I know enchanters have party spells so use them. If your going to disobey me because you don’t want me to see your panties then you better well be helpful.” He wondered why she didn’t just leave. She could take off down the tunnel and see if she can fend for herself. With all the commotion going on around him she most likely would be in the clear. Unless she has a soft spot for people, that could come in handy. He knew that he could ask blue later of what he thought of her on the off chance she ends up being useful. It couldn’t hurt to have a cute face his side and actually liking people was a plus seeing as how he needed someone to keep him in check. Since his recent black outs in the middle of fights, blue and red eyes acting weird and the fact that it was getting harder and harder to tell the difference between reality and fiction have caused him, to put his sanity into question. Well it wasn’t like he was crazy before because he was its just that he always knew he was crazy but now he wasn’t sure. Red eyes noticed metro loosing focused and stepped in. He helped metro keep shooting and fighting while yelling “get your head out of your ass if you havnt noticed theres a good possibility we are going to die today” he just kicked a croc in the face. They were getting close. He turned around to see what she was doing and realized her eyes were still closed. Good she didn’t need to see this, she could cast spells toward the noises in front of her. Its not like she needed to be accurate anyway, as long as she was being useful.

There were fewer crocs now but still to many to deal with. That ladder was the only exit he knew of in this tunnel so if they missed it, game over. He then thought of an idea. He turned around and unequipped his bow. He ran over to the girl and wrapped his left arm around her. “hold on.” he told her as he started to climb the ladder. Since he joined the game his athletic ability has increased dramatically. He figured it was because of the constant training in combat everyday. He had grown up a lot since the game started. He was halfway up the later still holding onto her when the crocs got there. They started to jump up and bit at there legs but they were too high. “keep your eyes closed okay? Not much longer.” He housted her up out of the hatch and followed suite. He closed the hatch and sat of the floor. He then laid back and sighed. “That was…eventful” He put his hands behind his head and stared up at the sky.

[Nala]

Nala made a face. How rude, she thought that she looked nice enough for someone to look up her- Shaking her head fiercely, she tried to actually shake the rest of the thought out of her head. What was she thinking!? Wanting to have some stranger say he’d look up her skirt. No matter how rude it was, she shouldn’t have had such thoughts! She tried to forget that such a thing had even entered her mind and moved on with the world.

While she didn’t get the command to open her eyes, but the boy told her to fight anyway. She wanted to sigh so much. Doing as asked, Nala started to fling out her Electric Fuzz spell to illuminate any croc she actually managed to hit. They did make quite the riot so she hit about half the time, but some of them she hit twice, unable to see which ones she needed to aim for. ‘This would be so much easier if I just peeked a little bit![/b]’ No, she couldn’t take the easy way out, she’d continue to listen. A couple, she managed to make turn around 180 degrees, causing the monsters confusion and to chomp down on each other once or twice.

A thought came to her, and Nala held one arm out, trying to get a feel for her surroundings so that she wouldn’t hit anything as she brought it around in a large circle. She was just about to start her skill Pacifying Dance… when she was suddenly snagged around the waist. Nearly dropping her rapiers, the Fox Tail squeaked while flailing, snagging a croc across the nose. “W-Wait Wha- AH!” Soon enough she was thrown up and thumped against the ground again, though not the old concrete of the sewers. For a second, she squirmed on the ground, trying to get a better position, but ended up just flopping around until she could sit up.

Managing to sit up, she tucked her legs under her and laid her hands on her knees. “Was it…?” Truthfully she had no idea how eventful things had gotten. “Th-Thank you, I think.” Trying to be nice, she reached out her hand to what she thought was feel around for where the one who saved her was, ending up patting his face since he was laying down.

---

Word Count: 390

[metroexibit]

He inhaled deeply taking in the fresh air. It definitely was a lot nicer up here then down there. He closed his eyes when he felt a hand on his head. “what the neep?” he thought to himself as he opened his eyes and saw her pat him on the head. “umm…excuse me?” he was a little taken back from this but then he noticed her eyes were still closed. If he gave her one thing it was that she could listen. “you can open your eyes now. The dangers past so theres no need to worry.” Now that he could see her in the light he was dumbfounded. The setting sun fell behind her head and created a border of light around her causing her blonde hair to sparkle in the sun light. It made him take a double check but then realizing he was staring played it off as if he wasn’t looking to begin with. Metro suddenly heard a lot of noise in the distance. He remembered that there was some sort of people of the land festival and there was supposedly going to be a lot of food, music and worst of all…people. If he was alone he would’ve just went back to the inn and climbed into his cozy bed. Though seeing as how he had just met someone with some pretty unfavorable first impressions he thought of an idea. He stood up from where he was laying down and pulled down his hood and his mask. He looked down to her and said “My name is metroExibit but you can call me metro. Im sorry about earlier, lets just say iv been kind of jumpy around people lately and I didn’t mean to upset you.” He said the words in a nervous tone. Why was he nervous, it was odd and he didn’t like it. He was usually collected when faced with this kind of stuff but now he didn’t know. It felt like he was stepping on glass with every word he said. He was afraid he would say something offensive that would cause her to leave. “What am I thinking its not like I should care shes just some chick who almost got me killed!” he thought, he turned to look toward the sound of music and cheering. “looks like there having fun, care to join me?” he said the words as quickly as they came into mind. He must be crazy seeing as how he hated crowds and awkward situations. Both were bound to happen now and he even has to attend some stupid festival. He couldn’t have face-palmed bigger then he did mentally. This was going to be a long night. On the bright side if she says no then I can go home and forget about this whole thing and to make matters worst he didnt have enough time to search for the item. “I don’t know whether to hate today or fall in love with it.” he thought to himself as he started to walk toward the festival.

[Nala]

Finally, she had gotten the words of release that allowed her to open her blue eyes to what was now a world of bright light. Blinking a few times, Nala squinted, trying to see through the blinding sunlight that caused her to be unable to see anything for a couple minutes. In fact, she didn’t even notice the boy’s stare in her blind state. “O-Oh my…!” Laying a hand against her forehead, she managed to block most of the light assaulting her and see a little. Despite the obviousness of them being outside now, she let out a sigh of relief now that she was reassured.

The next thing she saw when her vision returned after the light was the colors. Quite a few colors in fact. The younger boy lying next to her was full of interesting with his yellow and blue hair along with clear blue eyes like her own. Was that how hers looked like? She hoped so, they were really pretty in what light was left. Smiling softly, she giggled, her tail thumping happily against the ground. “Ooooh, are they? Well then, I would love to join you Metro!” Standing up, she brushed herself clean of any dirt that would decide to cling to her, making sure she was clean first and foremost.

Dirt free, the Fox Tail hurried forward to catch up to the fleeing boy named Metro. Personally, she didn’t like being around crowds of people, preferring scarcer location without many people, but Nala didn’t like being alone either. If he wanted to go on to some sort of party she would come along. It was better than going home to where her brothers were moping around doing anything from pigging out on the leftovers she had made the other night to making a mess of the house again by romping around and messing things up.

Who knew, maybe the party would actually be a lot of fun, like that Chinese New Year’s festival she had gone to awhile ago. All those games and parades, it had ended up being one of the most fun days she had ever had in Elder Tale. Jogging up to his side, she kept pace with the colorful elf, giving him a curious look. He had appeared basically out of nowhere after all, she couldn’t be blamed for being curious, right? “It’s nice to meet you Metro, my names Nala. Um, well, you can call me Nala!” Huh, maybe she should try coming up with some sort of nickname for herself one day. “Do you usually go to things like this with random people you find in underground tunnels?” Sure, she was doing the same, but she was a gullible person, it happened.

---

Word Count: 455

[metroexibit]

Metro noticed as the fox-tail girl trotted up next to him. He had no idea what he was doing at this point. He could tell blue eyes was trying to act like he didn’t notice the situation and red eyes was sleeping. He was all on his own for what lied ahead and he would have to face it head on. when they reached the center of town metro looked around and saw all the bright lights strung up around the area. He could see street vendors and people eating and laughing. There was a concert going on and for what metro could tell were three fox-tails singing and dancing on a make-shift stage. He suddenly had the thought of the stage crumbling down and the performers tumbling down with it. It made him smile at the thought of them making a fool out of themselves. He was rather hungry and so looked for a place to eat. “After that who thing in the tunnels im rather hungry.” He said as he started off toward one of his favorite food joints. It was player run and he had done a favor for one of the chefs there so he comes and visits every once and a while when he has time. The foods pretty good and seeing as how they could see the interesting scene from inside he couldn’t have moved fast enough. He has been in this game for a while now. Long enough to know that crowds mean trouble and trouble is definitely something you want to avoid. The last thing he needed was some blow-heart trying to pick a fight with him. Everyone in town were ether around his level or lower so he figured he could take them if provoked. He heard the other day that someone made it to level fifty-one. That hurt like hell seeing as how he trains all the time to be the best. He couldn’t help but think that his dreams of world conquest were now out of the question but then realized it didn’t matter what he had to do. He will one day rule this world and all who inhabit it, no matter the cost. He opened the door to the place and looked back as to check if she was coming. If she wasn’t then he would probably find her later and if not then oh well. He wouldn’t forget her though that much he knew. The crazy but cute girl who almost got him killed in the sewers, yeah that’s a story to remember. He went over to one of the booths and took a seat next to the window. He picked up his menu and started to look over the options.

[Nala]

Tail swishing from side to side happily, Nala looked around the festival held by the people of the land. Truth be told, she hadn’t really known that they could do such things, she sort of still pictured them as npc’s in the back of her mind when she simply thought of them. Sure, it was different when she talked to them one on one, she couldn’t actually tell them from the adventurers then, but just thinking about them…? NPCs. She’d have to make sure not to make that mistake again after seeing what they were capable here.

It was a little odd seeing the People of the Land outnumbering the actual players that were hanging around. Nala knew that there was a bit of tension between the People and Adventurers, so it made her nervous to be nearly surrounded by them, unsure what they would do knowing that she wasn’t one of them. If this was how they felt all the time, she couldn’t blame them for being wary of players; it wasn’t a very good feeling. Inching over, she walked a little closer to Metro, feeling safer around him.

The dancers really caught her eye though. Before getting trapped here, Nala had always loved watching others dance, despite being unable to do it herself. In here though, in this game, she had the skill to accomplish such an elegant art. She didn’t exactly see destruction as she stared at the stage while they walked, instead she saw the stage like the beautiful ballroom floor in old movies. The urge to go over and get on it with the other Fox-Tails was strong, but she wouldn’t leave Metro’s side. If she had the courage she would ask him to come over with her and possibly dance if he wanted, but she wasn’t courageous so it didn’t come up.

Nodding politely to the boy, Nala entered through the door after he opened it, following him once he made it to the table. She looked around the restraint before wandering over to take a seat across from him. Glad for the window they sat next to, she looked out of the thin glass that separated her from the bustling outside world. Turning back, she peeked at Metro while he read over his menu then picked up her own to look over. She wasn’t exactly sure if she was hungry or not, all the excitement seemed to be filling up her stomach on its own. Part of it could be nerves too though. Having never eaten anyone else’s food, she wasn’t sure if it would be good or not. A lot of people hadn’t figured out that you needed to cook by hand so that food would actually have a taste.

“U-Um.. I was wondering. Is the food here usually pretty good?” Better to ask and make sure, right?

---

Word Count: 476

[metroexibit]

He watched as nala stared at her menu. She had a look of bewilderment about her and who could blame her. Since the invention of good tasting food wasn’t that long ago not everyone has adapted to the style. She asked him if the food was any good but to be completely honest he hadn’t the slightest clue. Every time he has come here it was late at night and he couldn’t remember it the next morning. “They adapted to the new style of cooking so its pretty good.” He said still pondering over his menu. He looked it over when he realized not much has been said. He cared little for small talk since the only reason for it is to make up for akward silences but he didn’t believe in those moments. He believed that words were powerful and shouldn’t be used carelessly. He remembered the first time he heard the phrase actions speaks louder then words, he nearly died laughing. He couldn’t help it really since the education system makes a point to teach you about Hitler who almost conquered the world through words. That and gandi, martin luther king jr and everyone who has ever used a computer could tell you that words are the most destructive things in the universe. They can destroy hopes and dreams, shatter memories and feelings. Although they can also be used for beautiful creation such as books, magazines, newspapers. The English language starts out as letters which turn into words that turn into sentences then paragraphs and so on. With the right combination of all of those you can turn the tide of wars, persuade the hearts of thousands or getting a girl to like you.

The waiter came and metro ordered a sundae with lots of whipped cream. They weren’t amazing Sundays but you cant really go wrong of them. He also took nala’s order but metro was too focused on her instead of her voice. He had to admit she was stunning, he hadn’t really thought about ever trying to go after a girl before. Since he grew up getting picked on it never really occurred to him. He thought maybe if he just kept his crazy a secret from her then this might actually work, but who was he kidding for all he knew she probably still thought he was some sort of rapist or something. After that whole tunnel fiasco it was a possibility. There food came in no time at all. The waiter gave nala her order but then when he gave metro his he slipped and dumped it all over nala’s head. Metro smirked and chuckled a bit. Even when drenched in ice cream she was adorable. He reached over and got some off her nose and tasted it. “see, I told you it was good.” He smiled and laughed.

[Nala]

Smiling, Nala was more than happy to hear that the place had heard word of the new technique to preparing food properly. As for herself, she had had her fair share of disasters while figuring out how it worked out. Some things, she still wasn’t able to prepare- despite knowing the exact recipe, it would turn to an inedible mush. It was because her level wasn’t all that high, and as frustrating as anything, but she had to deal with the hindrance for the moment, at least until her cooking level was better suited to cook what she wanted.

When the waiter came around, she still wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted to eat, but she smiled sweetly at him anyway and just ordered something random, just a small salad to hold her over. There were plenty of things that she would have wanted to take the time and ask Metro about, like why he made his hair have two vastly different colors rather than just one, or how he managed not to make the middle part green. The reason he was even down in the tunnels in the first place was on her mind as well. Surely since he hadn’t killed her yet, he wasn’t a PKer that had been going around in search of someone to slaughter. Then there was the tackle. She probably wanted the answer to why he went and tackled her the most; it was so rude even though he seemed so nice for saving her!

Before she had the chance to make up her mind though, the waiter came by with their food… and proceeded to dump Metro’s Sundae all over her. Squeaking, she flailed helplessly and shivered at the sudden cold that covered and started to drip over her. She brought her arms back to hug herself tightly. Even though she smiled at Metro and his teasing, trying to play it off, inside she was hurt by his laughter. “H-Har har, very funny.” Taking up a napkin, she tried to clean herself off as best she could on her own. The waiter apologized over and over, hurrying to the back in order to fetch her a towel.

Thoroughly embarrassed, she set the soaked napkin in her lap after she had at least gotten most of it out of her hair. Now she needed a bath though because she was cold and sticky… she was sad that she would have to leave the festival without looking around more or going back to dance. While she swallowed to try and hide it, her voice still broke slightly as she asked, “U-um… Metro..? Would it be alright if I went back home to clean up?”

---

Word Count: 449

[metroexibit]

Metro was a little taken back when she asked if he wanted to go to home. She never specified whether it was her or his home she wanted to go. He had never been in a situation like this before. He had never had the chance to adjust to a romantic environment so it seemed only natural he sucked at it. "Inviteing me over before we even had dinner? Seems like I'm one attractive guy." He realised how rude his statement as right after he said it. "Uh-sorry for my rudeness. If never hung out with a girl before so please excuse my last statement." He said with a smile. He stood up and walked over to the side of the table then he bent over so there faces where a couple inches away. "Well, let's get you cleaned up then. My hotel room is only a few minute walk from here if you just to get cleaned up or we could go to your house if you're to get changed. Perhaps if you wanted to just go our desperate ways." He said the last statement with noticeable dismay. He was usually good at hiding what he was thinking but that single emotion as he said those words spiked so fast he couldn't control it. He had to admit he had fun, the night may have ended shorter then he had originally expected and he had to be honest, it made him a little upset at the thought of her leaving so soon. There was still a few questions he wanted to as her. At first he just wanted to get her to forget the tunnels but now he just wanted to stay with her. Nothing more and nothing ess.

[Nala]

"O-Oh, um.." Nala wasn't exactly sure what to say about Metro's comment. It made her blush bright red and drop her gaze down to her lap, she did agree that he was cute, but thinking it was one thing, and saying it out loud when he was right there in front of her was a whole other matter. So she was left to stutter incoherently instead, lasting until he apologized for what he thought was a rude comment. "N-No! It's alright, I- I just wasn't expecting it is all!" Though there probably wouldn't have been a situation where she would expect someone to say something like that unless it was like, a dare, but she still didn't think that he should have to feel apologetic over showing his confidence in his appearance.

With her gaze turned toward her lap, she didn't notice the elf getting closer until he was practically right on top of her, mere inches away as he leaned casually into her bubble. That did nothing to help her stop blushing, trying to lean back and away for space before he got any closer, heaven forbid he somehow trip or get bumped into from behind, resulting in an accidental kiss. That wasn't how she wanted her first one to be taken! Her retreat from him was cut short though at the sad puppy eyes he gave her in his last statement. Shaking her head, there was no way the tender-hearted Fox Tail would be able to do something that made anyone look like that.

Shaking her head, Nala stayed in her seat, fidgeting some because she couldn't exactly get out with Metro hovering over her so closely. "I d-don't mind coming over to your room to clean up, could we head there?" She still wanted to get her cloths clean of the sticky white mess, but she'd figure out how to accomplish that at his place when it came around.

---

Word Count: 322

[metroexibit]

“well then lets get going, shall we?” he backed up, paid for both of there meals and started out the door. He held it open for her and continued down the street. The inn he always stayed at was only down the street. It was nice and small, that’s how he liked it but he didn’t think that she would. All it really had was a bed with a nightstand next to it, a window right next to the bed, a bathroom with a shower on the far side of the room and a chair and table. He also had an armor stand along but he hardly used it since he rarely had enough time to relax. It was just big enough for him since he was only ever in there at night and didn’t stay very long in the morning. “its not that far its actually right up ahead.” He pointed toward a three story wooden building. The buildings around it were very tall and made out of brick. He liked how its stuck out of the surroundings like it did. As they walked a cold gust of wind blew through the buildings and caused him to shiver. He had his cloak and his favorite leather jacket on. He looked over and noticed that she wasn’t wearing a jacket, so being the gentlemen he was he took off his jacket and handed it to her. “take it, its cold out and I wouldn’t want you getting sick.” He told her as they walked. If she didn’t take it he would just put it back on and shrug it off. If she wanted to freeze that was her decision. They made it to the inn and inside the two wooden doors. The old man who ran the place was sitting at the counter like he always was. He and metro never really talked but since he technically lived here they had a sort of unspoken bond. One time he saved him from a couple of people who tried to get a jump on him as he left his room. The old man covered for him and never asked questions nor asked for anything in return. Metro smiled at him and the man smiled back as they headed up the stares. His room was on the second floor, door farthest to the end. They came up to the door and he pulled out his key. Before unlocking the door he looked at her and said “excuse the mess, I wasn’t really expecting visitors.” He opened the door and walked in. He took off his bow and sword and placed them on the table. The room was completely clean, if he hadn’t told her he lived here it would seem like he never had. He didn’t have enough stuff to actually make a mess and he didn’t stay in the room long enough to leave things laying around.

He took started to take off his cloak and armor when he said “the bathrooms over there, a shower too if you want to use it I don’t mind. I can let you barrow one of my old shirts if you want. Might be a little big on you but it should suffice until you can get home.” He tossed her a plain white v-neck. He placed his armor on the rack and his quiver’s strap wrapped around it. He walked over and fell backwards onto his bed. He put one arm over his forehead and used the other to flip threw his menu. There was a few messages from a dew different people, none of which mattered to him. He had a guy watching over this group that was tracking him for a while just to make sure he knew what they were doing but he had nothing interesting to say. Another was a local vendor he had helped out once messaging him about having a chat sometime which he wasn’t interested in. He looked at the time and it was already about eleven o’clock. It sure as hell didn’t feel like four hours since they got out of the tunnel but it had. He thought back to the time he got threatened outside of this very building when he tried to leave around midnight. He waited for her to get out of the bathroom when he asked her

“hey its pretty late and it would clear my conscious if I atleast tried to convince you to stay. I could sleep on the floor and let you have the bed tonight or if it made you feel better I could help put you up in a room for tonight but if you insist on leaving can I at least walk you to where you need to go?”

[Nala]

"Alrighty," Scooching out once Metro had straightened back up and stepped away, Nala stood a little off to the side so that she wouldn't be in the way of anyone needing to come by or go past her. Of course, since he had gone to the trouble of paying for the food, she had their waiter wrap it up then stuck it in her bag. She never did like letting good food go to waste. Her current sticky situation could be put on hold long enough so that she could bring both of their orders back to the boy's room with her. While they walked along, she did shiver at the cold blast of wind, being soaked with ice cream not helping matters, but she shook her head, not accepting the jacket. As much as she would have loved to borrow it, she didn't want to trouble Metro by getting it dirty and making him clean it because she got it icky.

At a first sight when they came up to the three story building, her first thoughts were that he lived in an even bigger house than she did ever had. And having a family of six, she had had quite a large house. Once they actually stepped inside though... she found out it was the opposite. Comparing the three story building to the little lobby they walked into was no competition. 'Are all the rooms this small too?' she wondered to herself. Her living room in her old house was about as big as this, so trying to imagine a place where someone fit every single room inside the little space. She just couldn't fathom it. Keeping close to his side without touching, Nala nodded politely to who she guessed was the caretaker of this place since he sat behind the counter. Him and Metro didn't talk much- or at all for that matter- but they both showed friendly smiles to one another so they couldn't be on bad terms, right? It made her wonder if that was a usual practice for them, just to smile in greeting and head on their way, just another question she wanted to find the answer too.

"Don't worry, I doubt I'll be shocked at all." Even before heading in, Nala was fairly certain that she wouldn't be surprised by a mess, no matter how bad it was. She lived with three big rowdy boys after all. As far as she knew, no one person could make nearly as much mess as all three of them under the same roof. Strolling on in behind him when she was allowed, she... actually was surprised. Not by how messy the room looked, but how clean it was. Did anyone actually live here? Or maybe this was just some sort of secret base he rarely ventured to except when he has guests? Both thoughts were sort of preposterous, but they were just a little bit legit, she was sure! "Y-You call this messy?" Closing the door behind her, she inched forward to look around. It was just so clean! It was marvelous! Hopefully when she found her own place to call home here it could be this nice all the time, though that was doubtful, it would at least look lived in if nothing else.

While Metro got comfortable in what was a small home to her perspective, Nala watched a little awkwardly, not exactly sure if she should go on to find the bathroom and start her shower since that had been the whole reason they came here. Hoping it was okay, she sat their leftovers on the table as well, to be finished at another point, whenever that would be. The answer was given to her, however, when he offered her once of his shirts right before tossing it at her. Letting out a small yipe, she caught the cloth without getting it messy at all, it was kinda close, but it was still clean. Smiling thankfully, Nala bowed her head slightly before looking back up to where he was indicating the bathroom was. "Thank you, I'll be out... um.. as soon as I can!" Turning for the bathroom door, she hurried in and started up the water. It had started out a nice cool day, but after having freezing ice cream dumped on her then blasted with a freezing blast of cold air, all she wanted was a hot shower, and the time to enjoy it, so she wasn't sure just how long she would be in there.

Admittedly, it had been just what she needed as well. Having herself a nice, long, hot shower was just what the doctor ordered. While she was in there, she took the liberty to kind of sort of wash her stick clothes in the tub with her, it made her all the more glad to have Metro's shirt be big on her to cover up more. She may have been use to walking around in nothing but one of her own shirts and undies with her brothers, they were family, and Metro wasn't, he was just the guy who saved her life and 'tried' to take her out to eat at a festival. Pulling down on the shirt a little more, she tried to get it to stay low before hesitantly inching out, her now wet clothes hanging up in an attempt to dry at least a little before she needed to put them back on and head outside to go home. She gave a small wave when she came in to sit down in a chair.

"Late?" She had enough time to get home ri- Turning to look out the window, Nala was left to stare at the pitch black nothingness of night. 'Oh my gosh, it is late..." Poor Ragas, he would be the most frantic, probably out looking for her at this very moment. Shaking her head to clear it again, she tried not to think of that. She had told them she was leaving today! So they wouldn't need to worry at all! Still, she felt a little bad about the whole thing. 'No! You can't go back on your word!' Sighing at the mini argument in her head, she looked back up to Metro with a shy smile, "I can't ask you to pay even more after all you've already done for me... I'd like to stay, but is it alright if I slept on the floor and you take the bed?" It was his place after all, she had just barged on in with him, she couldn't ask Metro not to sleep in his own bed. Thankfully, this would give her clothes all night to dry as well.

---

Word Count: 1119

[metroexibit]

He was actually sort of relieved when she said she would stay with him. He had never had anyone over before. Even before the game it was just him alone most of the time in his big house. He figured that’s why he liked his small room, it didn’t feel as empty with just him in it as his old house did. When she asked to sleep on the floor he looked at her like she was crazy. “first I attack you in the sewers, then I practically throw you out of those same tunnels. Then I try to make up for it by taking you for something to eat then I get you covered in ice cream only to almost give you a cold on the way here and YOU want to get the floor? No I don’t think so sorry hunny but Id feel better if you get the bed I mean you are a guest in my home after all, id be a pretty shitty guy if I didn’t give you the bed.” He got up off the bed before she could reply and walked over to the closet. He pulled out an extra pillow, sheet and blanket as he laid them out on the floor. He may despise all of humanity just for the fact of them being alive. He hated the fact that they had a basic need to be better then someone else. He despised the fact that he had the emotions to care when the walls caved in and no one was there to save him. He remembered being at home in his big house alone one night. He sat on his bed and cried and cried and cried. He cursed the world as his vison blured and the walls shook as he screamed out. Blue eyes told him that People have a basic needs for human interaction, when they come into contact with other human beings there body releases a chemical that causes there heart to race and it makes them feel happy. It’s a lot like a drug however because if someone doesn’t get enough of this chemical they go into withdrawal and this causes clinical depression and suicidal tendencies. You can literally be so lonely you want to kill yourself and that’s how he always felt. Eventually he just wanted to get rid of this basic need and it made him hate himself for it. He didn’t want to have to depend on other people in order to be happy. He wanted to get rid of all his emotions and even threatened to rip his own heart out to make it stop but blue and red eyes were there for him. They both convinced him that it wasn’t worth it and that he needed to continue living for himself instead of others. When he did that he would feel happier and they were right.

After he laid out his bed he went and sat on the chair in the corner of the room. “so are you going to ask me those questions you have been wanting to all night? Don’t deny it, I can see the questions racing through your mind all night so just ask. I am an open book to people I like so ill answer all your questions to the best of my ability.”