The Great Scouting Mission! [ELKEID/RENAI/CLOSED]

[Hirosame]

Hiro crouched in a tree, overlooking the new area. The scouting mission was to begin as soon as the other members of the group arrived. Luckily enough, it wasn't going to be a group of random scrubs. Instead, it was with two people whom Hiro had at least already met. This was a good sign. He read the quest information, and saw that the other two people were already signed up. There was room for a third, which Hiro decided to take by himself, making sure that they at least had someone else they knew in the same party. He wondered if Renai and Elkeid had met before or not, which he very soon shrugged off. This world, while filled with many people, was still rather small. They would've run into one another eventually, either by mistake or on purpose. Fate might have something to do with it as well, but whatever.

He surveyed the land for a little while. It looked to be an open grassy field, and at some point, the range just shifted. It was like he couldn't really see beyond it. However, the camp was set up nearby to him. This was just a bunch of trees that he had used to observe things better. Information is a powerful ally, and Hiro knew this all too well. He wanted to have some sort of info prior to the start of this mission, but it looked like he wasn't going to get his wish just yet. They'd have to go out into the field in order to get his desired information, which didn't bother the auburn-haired monk in the slightest. He grinned sadistically, as he anticipated a powerful foe on that field before them. With that thought, wiping the grin from his face, he leaped off the tree.

Using his ability Aura Kick to land without taking sufficient damage, Hiro left a large imprint on the ground, and casually walked away. The land fixed itself soon after, reloading a bit of data. Hiro chuckled a bit, thinking that he was being perhaps a bit too childish with his fall, as he walked towards the camp. There were other players there, checking out the area, but they weren't the ones that he was looking for. No, no, they probably wouldn't be here quite yet. So, instead, he decided to head back over to the tree, and sit down, in a meditative position just below its giant boughs. Hiro let the wind grace his face, as he let his mind go into a silent and serene state, waiting for his partners to show up, which he imagined wouldn't be all that much longer from that current time. All he needed to do was wait.

[455 Words]

[Elkeid]

Elkeid felt like a cat, which was a rather fitting comparison. It was such a nice day that she was doing her daily stretches, plus what she could remember of her old yoga routine, outside of her small tent in the Sarum camp. The mission she was on was supposed to be a simple "scouting" affair, though this did not rule out combat entirely. It was only to be expected that they would have a few run ins with some monsters. A few Adventurers gave her odd looks once she really got into it, but she was too busy being a "tree" to care. Maybe they thought she was a Buddhist or something? That was something to ponder while she went through all through warrior stances, which she finished with a triangle.

Well, whatever. These fools clearly seemed incapable of appreciating her high lunge, standing forward bend and half downward dog. Why should she even deviate from her breathing patterns for their sakes? The downward dog pose did make her feel a bit vulnerable, though, but the modified cobra was even worse. Or was that the caterpillar? The odds of someone planking over her were slim, at least. Of course, halfway through the sunbird pose, she had to wonder if she was doing these exercises backwards. Her memory could work like that at times, which was really frustrating. This was why she needed to be in a gym, where there was a trainer to guide her through the steps. One thing was for certain, though. She sure looked like a modified corpse once she was near the end of her exercise.

She felt exhausted, albeit energetic, as she sat up and brought the bottoms of her bare feet together. That was enough (backwards?) yoga for today. She rolled her shoulders and stretched out her back as she rose, enjoying the feel of muscles and joints popping. Her discarded boots seemed to creak in joy as she slipped them on ('I should really replace these at some point,'), and her jewelry glinted in the light as she reapplied them. She lazily wrapped her prayer beads around her wrist as she shuffled away from her tiny tent. Hiro and the unidentified player were probably waiting for her by now. She would likely be fashionably late by the time she arrived at the destined meeting spot.

Although the place wasn't too far from the camp, it still took her roughly five minutes to get there. Elkeid was too relaxed to rush, and usually could not be bothered to do so unless the situation was dire. Besides - it's not like they were going to be fighting those strange monsters of stone and earth. This was an exploration mission. The redhead she spotted a few moments later also seemed to be relaxing - or meditating - under the branches of a tree.

Elk did not adjust her speed as she approached the young, redheaded man. Instead, she focused more on searching for the third member, who had either stepped out for a moment or was going to show her up by appearing a few minutes later. Being "demure" was unlike her, but that was the best way to describe how she was idly standing about, plucking at the beads upon her wrist. She lasted for perhaps twenty seconds or so before she felt the need to clear her throat. "Long time no see, Hirosame. I see you've been busy since we last met." She spoke in regards to his level and guild affiliation. Their levels were similar, though her lack of a guild was somewhat...perplexing? Provided they had any advantages, she would see about joining one later. Perhaps. "Who and where is this third fellow that shall be accompanying us?" Her hand continued pulling at the beads until they free from her wrist.

Muse: Take 2 Blue

Notes:ƸӜƷ

Tags:Hirosame & Renai

Word Count:639

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Made by Benetnasch of ET

[Renai]

Renai was staring off into space, unmindful of the people that passed through the path underneath him. His eyes were blank, the male lost in his thoughts, remembering back to brighter and more cheerful days. No, perhaps it was more accurate to say that the guild leader was thinking about days that were different. Days that were spent studying, spent cleaning, spent living his life as it had been before this sudden shift. He remembered clearly how his life had been up to this point, but he also remembered clearly all that had transpired so far once the world had shifted. How he had shown up in the middle of the swamp, how he had tried to make a boat with Hiro, the golem adventure, the puppets, the flower grove, and the haunted mansion. He remembered it all very clearly and remembered, just as clearly, how he had acted. Although he was no longer someone's little helper, he still hadn't learned how to interact with people. He still hadn't learned how to properly interact with people. He was still not elegant at all, and at the same time, too much so.

But he wasn't here to reminisce. He wasn't here to do any of that, and a little mental alarm rang in his head, warning him of his impending appointments. That was perhaps one of the good points of having grown up as Renai did. He didn't really need a clock or a watch to function properly, he wasn't often late. His internal clock jolted him out of his daze, leaving the Enchanter to lightly touch down at the base of the tree and glance over at the designated meeting zone. To put it simply, he wasn't feeling quite all there, and how often had he even met Hirosame anyway? Three times? That wasn't nearly enough to really understand someone, much less become their friend. That presumption was mistaken. So Renai walked, not stiffly, but smoothly and gracefully towards their meeting point. Even in the trashiest of clothing, Renai somehow managed to pull off a certain pressure and strength in his stride, stopping a few paces away from Hiro and Elkeid. She reminded him immediately of that one woman, the so called 'oni' of hell that often met up with his auntie. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am known as Renai. Hello to you as well, Hirosame. " Renai kept his hands calmly at his side, lightly at rest in a calm, refined manner. There was scouting to be had and the trio had work to be getting done. His eyes slid across both of the other players quickly, although he had the distinct impression he might be acting a little stand-offish. Whatever. It was better to be considered stand-offish than get needlessly involved.

[Hirosame]

Hiro gave a slight smile at the woman as she approached him, and he turned his entire body to face her. This woman was no longer the person who randomly kicked goblins in their junk, as it seemed as though she grew up a bit from that point. Maybe she'd be a much more powerful monk now, enough to give Hiro a run for his money. But, since Hiro was now clad in his new armor and stylish clothing, he was definitely more fitted for battle than before. Being a monk, he didn't need to worry all that much about a weapon, as his body was deadly enough by this point, so much so that he could take down almost anything that came running up to him. Since the common enemies were between levels 1 and 16, he could deal fair damage to any and all adversaries that he'd come across. Even players who were much higher leveled probably couldn't kill him easily, due to the fact that no one has found any level 2+ materials, with which to create more advanced weapons and armor. Hiro had a bit of a monopoly when it came to better equips, since he made his stuff himself. But, even then, he wasn't strong enough yet. He needed to get stronger, so that not even a fully leveled player could handle Hiro's punches.

Hiro greeted the female as she arrived, realizing just how far off a tangent he had just gone into in his own mind. "It certainly has been a while, Elkeid. I'm glad to see that you're doing alright, as well." He responded. A moment later, she asked him of the name and whereabouts of their last party member. He looked around a bit, putting a hand on his side, and leaning towards his other. "I'm not entirely sure where he is, but Renai should be showing up soon enough." Hiro kept looking around, and soon enough, the male player was within viewing distance. Hiro smiled, and pointed over towards the man with his head, letting Elkeid know that he was coming from behind her. "There he is." He said, moving his body into a neutral stance.

The Enchanter stopped a few feet away from where Hiro and Elkeid stood, and Hiro returned a small nod to the man as he introduced himself to Elkeid, and greeted Hiro. "Glad to see you're alright, Renai. Thanks for coming along." He turned to face both of them, and began briefing them on the situation. "As you two can probably guess, we're here to do some recon on the newly discovered area. Since not much is known about this place, there's probably going to be a few monsters in the area, which I can only assume would be tougher than the common revelry that we've been fighting up until now. Our mission here today is to examine and determine the preliminary and immediate area from which players weren't allowed into prior to now. Seems easy enough, right?" He smiled to the two of them, and turned around. "There's plenty of things to grab in the way of provisions, so we can take a few to gather up stuff, and then begin the mission. I'm gonna go ahead and start picking stuff up, and I'll meet you guys by the gateway on the opposite side of the camp. We'll rendezvous there, and start scouting after that." Hiro started to walk away, and waved to the two. "See you guys in a few."

[586 Words]

[Elkeid]

The prayer beads that had fallen from her wrist sighed in relief as she stopped tugging at them, and affixed them back in place as the third and final member appeared. Something about the white haired man's mannerisms screamed uptight butler or prim and proper homosexual. She arched an eyebrow at the gentle seeming man, resisting the urge to refer to him as a pretty and fragile flower. For a moment she said nothing, and simply glanced in Hiro's direction. Were he and Renai…? Some very unappealing images briefly flashed through her mind, all of which she waved away with a hand, and played off by pointing to the spot above her head. This world defied many logical things, such as allowing names to hover near your head. "I'm Elkeid," she said.

When Hiro began addressing the two of them, she stopped fidgeting altogether to settle into a comfortable pose, hands placed on her impudently positioned hips. Apparently they weren't ready to ship off yet. Having only taken the rare hiking trip, Elk was not conditioned to bringing more than water bottles and granola bars when she ventured far from civilization. As far as she knew, though, they did not need much in this world to survive, and could always "teleport" out of a zone with some magic trick she had yet to (and would never) acquire. She'd seen how movies like The Fly ended; there was no way in hell that she was going to risk getting turned into a part weasel creature because she was too damned lazy to walk.

Her ability to understand Hiro diminished greatly when he turned his back to them. Focusing on words alone was difficult, much like listening to...neep, how was she supposed to explain this to the reader? 'Like listening for the quiet steps of a burglar over roaring and obnoxious metal.' A few familiar words jumped out to her, but otherwise it was like trying to decipher the bad Engrish of a Japanese singer. Did they mean deadly hand or delicate hand? Did the translator just run these lyrics through Google translate?

To Elk's unsophisticated ears, Hiro's words were akin to those dumped into the web browser's language translator in English, Japanese, and then back to English, producing a confusing string of: "Because there are a lot of things that grab in the manner described in provisions, we will be able to take a number to put together things, then, to start the mission. And I started going to pick up what I go ahead and gateway on the other side of the camp meet you guys to rendezvous there. Us, let's start from the scout then in my."

'Thank you, game.' Thank you for "curing" her of her auditory agnosia, but failing to make comprehension of spoken words easy. But everything was going to be ok. Hiro had said something about gathering and meeting near a gateway. She could fake doing...whatever, and make her way to the other side of the camp. Casually spying on Camellia Renai was also a possibility.

Elkeid shuffled back to camp, obviously in no hurry whatsoever. She would...probably be embarrassed if she showed up with the wrong supplies in hand, but that was the redhead's problem. She "haggled" with a Chef for some of his dried meat wares, and quickly mixed a few drinks for the road. The drinks were mostly standard cocktails, but she made a few nonalcoholic drinks, just in case her two travelling companions were total pansies.

The drinks for Hiro and Renai remained virginal for all of two minutes, however, before she spiked them with flavorless alcohol made from the system. Since they tasted like water… She carefully thumped the side of a bottle of chilled tea upon completion. It was a shame she lacked any powdered chocolate; Hiro seemed like the sort to guzzle milk like it was a newfound oasis.

There were a few Adventurers lurking around the gateway when she arrived, but only one of them had a head of red hair. "I brought drinks," she said without much ado. The drinks here were (allegedly) known for giving small healing effects, which was useful to have in lieu of potions or healing skills.

Muse: Love Letter To Japan

Notes:Bad Engrish song.

Tags:Hirosame & Renai

Word Count:705

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Made by Benetnasch of ET

[Renai]

Somethingsomething get materials blahblahblah, was it? Renai nodded somewhat stiffly and bowed gracefully as he turned around and took his leave. As a crafter of the housekeeper variety, he had certainly come mildly prepared for any particular escapades. In fact, he had gone ahead and crafted some konpeito ahead of time, which he had naturally shared with those in the area. Sweet food for mana restoration, was it? He had gone ahead and made some rice balls earlier as well, but he supposed the main point of this was that he was supposed to take some of the provisions crafted by people who were better at this than he was. Truthfully, he had what he needed in the form of a wall already, but there was no grace in showing your cards early. There is an elegance even in victory and defeat, he was sure his mom would remind him. Telepathically.

Sometimes he wished he didn't have quite so much trauma from his upbringing, but that was neither here nor there. He carefully obtained a few of the more basic objects, like the pharmacist capsules. The other major point to note was that Renai, being who he was, had gone ahead and jacked some tea. In a teacup. He brought the teacup and saucer with him as he walked, spilling not a single drop as he carefully and cautiously moved through the crowds to the designated meeting point. It was weak stuff, not likely to do much in the way of healing any health, but it had the familiar taste of tea that Renai was interested in. So he sipped his cup of tea while he waited, spotting Hirosame and subsequently Elkeid. His cup of tea was done long before it needed to be and he magick'd the saucer and cup into his inventory to return later, leaving the man waiting patiently with a polite expression on his face. He got the feeling he probably should have done something a bit more substantial in his free time, but he was not one to be late and he was not one to leave others waiting. Elegance and attention to others were core virtues, if he was remembering correctly. The worst parts of his history were coming out again, he realized, but as always, he justified it easily. It was better to be polite and standoffish than to get needlessly attached and rude. He knew he had a bit of a foul mouth if he didn't watch it, after all. "Whenever the two of you are prepared, I am ready to depart."

[Muse: Spinning Song]

[Tag: Hirosame Elkeid]

[Hirosame]

Hiro walked off, away from the other two, and started to go around the camp, picking up what he thought they'd need. Thanks to Midori, Hiro now had the recipe to make those Pork Buns that they had while at the New Years Festival. Those things were damn delicious, and gosh dang, if Hiro wasn't going to make them while they were out. As he walked over towards the condiment shop, he got a few weird looks from a few players, as well as some People of the Land, who had stationed at the camp to make a bit of extra income. It seemed that they were looking at his outer clothing, of course meaning his blue dress shirt, and black dress pants. The top two buttons to the shirt were unbuttoned, as per the requirements of the dress shirt, and matched how his character would normally look on Mabinogi, back when he played. This was sort of his standard look, really, in that world. And, it would continue on to this one.

But it might not be the fact that his clothes were different, but perhaps that he looked weak and helpless. That might have something to do with the fact that he carried no weapon, due to his being a Monk. He never minded it much, since a Monk's fighting ability would stem mostly from his own physical strength, and would gradually increase as he leveled. He loved that about this world, and a few other games like this one. Monks were perpetually the strongest when material caps were in place. Not to mention that they also had high evasion, the highest in this game. Coupling his evasion with his abilities, Hiro could probably figure out ways to never get hit, so long as his mana stayed up long enough for him to keep chaining together combos. He just wished that even half of this crap he could pull in this world would be possible in the real world. Hell, he'd probably try and pick up Parkour if it were anything like this world.

Putting his own imagination and dreams aside, he made his way to the small shop, and began asking for the ingredients to make the Pork Buns, and then a few other things. He'd probably end up making burgers or something, since they were easy enough to craft, even without being a chef subclass. Besides, who doesn't like a few good burgers? Sure, he might not the the greatest cook in the world, but at least he can make them. Then again, he remembered that Renai was actually a housekeeper subclass, and could more than likely make food better than Hiro could. Either way, though, he thought he might as well bring some extra food to make a legitimate meal sometime during their trip. Which brought his mind to the next subject: Where were they going to search? There wasn't a whole hell of a lot of ground for them to cover, and there weren't any major places of interest that they could check out. He would need to think a bit, but there wasn't much around them that he could discern from his prior knowledge of the London area.

He found himself pondering this while stopping at the exit of the camp. There really wasn't anything worth checking out, that most of the adventurers haven't seen already. Due to his previous trip with Apocrypha, they had explored Stonehenge already, and saw a few things there, but nothing worth going back for. Although, it might actually be worth it to go check it out again, just to be doubly certain that it's just the rock formation that was put there thousands of years ago. So, Hiro waited for the other two to show up before telling them where they were going to be checking out. It would help out a bit more, since both Renai and Elkeid were stronger than his last two party mates during the guild exploration. There'd probably be nothing else that could stand up to this trio in the area, so it served to benefit them all by sticking together like this. And, it wasn't much longer afterwards that Elkeid and Renai had showed up.

Elkeid had brought drinks, and Hiro knew that Renai had his housekeeping, so he'd probably be able to support all three of them with some minor cooking, if push comes to shove. Hiro hoped that Elkeid had brought some soda, but then he remembered that soda wasn't invented in this world yet. He'd drink that shit up like there was no tomorrow, if he could. But, that wasn't going to be happening any time soon. In any case, he started to debrief the other two. Due to his reading of Elkeid's previous post premonition, he figured that he'd probably face them while he talked this time. "Well, looks like we're all set to go, then. I thought it'd help out if we checked out Stonehenge one more time, since Apocrypha and I had seen it once already. It would probably help us out a bit more to know more about the surrounding area  of Stonehenge, as well as the stones themselves. So, without much further adieu, let's get moving." Now Hiro turned around, and started walking out of the camp, hoping the other two would be following shortly.

The road to Stonehenge was going to be a long one, one that would most certainly take an entire day to get to the site. But, since it was still early enough in the day that the sun hasn't been completely above them, they'd have plenty of time to get to the location easily. There might actually be enough time to scout out the local area enough to find a good spot to camp out. Hiro made sure to bring along some camping supplies, should something like this happen. It was mostly his own paranoia that they'd need stuff to sleep on if they were going pretty far away from the camp. But, it would prove to be worthwhile, he thought. The trip was peaceful, as not many monsters appeared around here during this time of the day, so it was a rather relaxing walk. He knew that during the night, though, they'd probably need to do shifts to watch for the monsters around Stonehenge, since the spawning rate doubled during the night, and doubled again for a point of interest. That would prove troublesome, but he had confident in his own abilities, as well as the abilities of his allies. With that in mind, he continued walking on.

[1100 Words]

[Elkeid]

Regrouping took very little time, after which Hiro informed her and Renai that they would be taking a field trip to see Stonehenge. In the twenty odd years she had lived in England, she had only visited that place once, as a young child. She failed to find it particularly interesting at that age, the only being draw being the sacrifice of a talking lion that was an allegory to Jesus. "Godfather, look! It's like the Stone Table from Narnia. Maybe it's magical?" The kid version of her was sorely disappointed. There was no magic, but a bunch of stupid rocks. Had she been big enough, the stones that encircled the site would have been flicked aside and fallen down like dominoes. Maybe the game would have better results. 'So help me God, Hiro. So help me God.' Whether or not Hiro could feel the dagger-like squints she aimed at his back was up for debate.

The squinting eased up as the long journey to the stones began. There were far greater things of import on her mind right now, such as what she would be doing when they needed to set up camp, since she had neglected to pack up her tent. 'No one better touch my stuff while I'm gone.' Her odds of sleeping under the stars tonight were high, which was somewhat comforting; her username was the "tail end" of the handle that connected to the Big Dipper. Regardless of the futility, Elkeid paused for a moment to try and seek out the star, but of course failed. The sky was too engorged with sunlight for nary a star to be seen. A bit disgruntled by this "sun blocking," Elkeid pressed on to catch up with the rest of her group.

There was no lack of monsters or players fighting them off for miles. The lower leveled golems that littered the area posed very little threat to her group, even with the higher "Hate" levels. It could be that they were afraid to engage in what would be a horribly one-sided ass whooping, and would rather attack lower leveled players for a fairer shot at victory. The amount of lower leveled golems seemed to diminish more and more as they strayed further from the camp, however, making her a bit nervous. She was well aware that they might be forced to deal with monsters throughout the expedition, but fighting rock monsters had little appeal to her, and made the woman worry about the (future) state of her knuckles.

Hiro, that red headed little imp, had armor, so she was not worried about him. Renai, however, was an Enchanter, a class that apparently had defense as strong as paper, and Elk was still sporting starter armor. From what she had heard and understood, starter gear was poop. She may as well not be wearing any at all; the difference was sure to be minimal at best. A potato sack would also work; it might even be an improvement.

Muse: 19-2000

Notes:Well. Here it is.

Tags:Hirosame & Renai

Word Count:500

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Made by Benetnasch of ET

[Renai]

Knowing the destination beforehand would have been optimal, honestly. He wasn't satisfied with the current result, so Renai motioned for Hiro and Elkeid to wait. In a dash that was entirely unelegant, Renai leapt away, setting a mental timer. 60 seconds was all he was giving himself. Speeding through the crowds, Renai spun and danced through the wandering Landers and Adventurers, employing Inversion to execute some rather unreasonable maneuvers in his dash. At 45 seconds, he was sliding up to the crafting materials section. While he had certainly gathered provisions earlier, he knew Stonehenge was far enough away and through monster-infested areas that his provisions weren't going to cut it. There was something else he needed. Dumping quite a few woodcrafter materials into his inventory, Renai rushed back to the meetup point. This wasn't elegant at all, he knew, but with 30 seconds left, what could he do? His compromise mostly consisted of the grace with which he navigated the camp, landing back where the meetup point was precisely 53 seconds after he had left. Benefits of having an internal clock, he supposed. "Please excuse that disturbance. I had a matter to attend to."

Yeah, that was all they were getting. If Hiro and Elkeid moved on without Renai, he figured it wouldn't be that hard to catch up to them anyway. After all, in 53 seconds, unless the other two were in a mad dash towards Stonehenge, Renai would be able to spot them. The combination of red and purpley-black was hard to miss, after all. They were off faster than you could say "Renai was too priss and proper to reasonably be sane". Not that anyone would say that. That would be rude. So rude. At any rate, Renai was traveling with two monks, so the chances of being unable to take on an opponent was more or less unlikely. As long as they didn't run into a Field Boss or one of those Golem Phalanx things, they'd be okay. After all, their travels were fairly interruption-free, all things considered. They were just going to be moving along towards Stonehenge at this pace, but Renai was already bored. He knew that was pretty inelegant of him, but he was completely bored and the pace was just too slow.

While Hiro was worrying about camp (something Renai had taken as one of the reasons for his mad dash earlier), Renai was worrying about approaching golems. It was fine and well enough to say that they could fight, but it was probably better for the group if they simply didn't. Walking just a few steps behind the duo he was walking with, his eyes were moving across the fields searching for something. Elkeid was spot on in saying that they weren't particularly assaulted by the lower leveled enemies, but she was equally right in saying that the closer they got to Stonehenge, the stronger the opponents got. Strong enough, in fact, that Renai was somewhat concerned his support spells wouldn't make the cut. Especially since these were golems, could they even fall asleep? Cringing at the thought, Renai almost didn't notice the Magicked Ruin Golem that was shuffling towards them. It was one thing for these monsters to wander, but the golem was moving towards them, as the crow flies. That was worrisome. It curved as they moved and Renai was officially on guard. "We appear to have been targeted." Having no knowledge of exactly how golems functioned, Renai used a single spell on the lumbering beast that was approaching them. Astral Hypno.

How was he supposed to know that the nearest Magicked Ruin Golem had a 'Mana Aggression' skill? It wasn't like he could have predicted that it would immediately target him. The Lesser Soil Golems didn't do jack all, however. A curious trait, for sure, but the result was rather simple. One Magicked Golem close by and one further away had targeted the trio. And it was 900% Renai's fault. Oh dear.

[Hirosame]

Hiro slowly followed up Elkeid as she began to move out towards the fields of battle. There were certainly a few other battles going on around them, but the monsters seemed to be interested only in what they were already fighting. So, their little group was pretty much left alone. Hiro didn't notice until just then, that Renai had a few small beads of sweat on his face. It looked like the man just ran somewhere, and then sprinted his way back. He couldn't really imagine Renai doing such a thing, being a man of elegance as he was, but it still brought him to wonder why this guy is sweating, even slightly. It wasn't that hot out, at least, Hiro didn't think so. It had to be only seventy-something, at the most, with a light breeze to keep them cool as they moved along. Not to mention, they were moving already. It should prove to reason that they'd have at least a gentle breeze on them at all times, but it was all still an enigma to Hiro. He didn't want to bother Renai about it, as the elegant Enchanter would probably just end up giving Hiro a death glare, much like he feels Ruemia would give him. He shuddered at that thought, and just continued walking.

But it did bother him a bit that the numbers of monsters nearby them decreased rather rapidly as they went along. Hiro squinted a bit, and glanced over their surroundings. He made sure to keep all his senses on edge, just to make sure that they don't get trapped in some hairy situation. It would serve them best to keep an eye open on all their surroundings, and, since Hiro was in the middle of this small train of people, he would focus more on the sides than in front or behind. He noted a few golems off on the far right, but they didn't seem to be alerted to their presence as of yet. If they kept moving forward, heading almost directly towards Stonehenge in a straight line, they probably wouldn't aggravate the golems. This kept his mind at ease, even though his entire body was ready for a fight at any moment. It wouldn't serve well if they had to fight those monsters, since both he and Elkeid were probably their main damage. Golems are resistant to Physical damage, which meant more work, and probably more hits necessary to kill just one of them.

"We appear to have been targeted."

Immediately, Hiro turned around to Renai, to see what he was looking at. He hoped that it wouldn't have been those golems he was just looking over at. But, too bad Hiro's demon luck didn't follow him into video games. In virtual worlds, Midori seemed to have all the luck. It wasn't fair, but he was glad that every dangerous situation that he's ever been in has ended in a good way in the real world. Hiro turned to look, and lo and behold, both golems were heading right for them. Dammit! This is the opposite of what I wanted to happen! Hiro shouted in his mind. He might have underestimated the detection range of the monsters just a bit too much. He couldn't imagine them being too big of a problem, since they were lumbering excuses for gravel, and couldn't move faster than a rock on a level plain. But, even still, they had masses upon masses of health. He needed to start getting rid of some of that health. Soon. Fast. Before the second one arrives.

Hiro charged over immediately, hoping to make a preemptive strike. This giant mass of ground was, well, giant. It had to be at least nine feet tall, and probably the same measurement in width from shoulder to shoulder. It was probably about three feet in diameter on its shoulders, which would give Hiro a large amount of room to attack if he went from above. But, this thing was made of rock. Literally, stone slabs. Sure, they were probably old and decrepit by now, but even still, it was stone. That stuff doesn't break easily. He would have a hard enough time just hitting the damn thing, let alone deal measurable damage. But, he wasn't going to get any further just by complaining to himself in his mind. He needed to start dealing some damage, before it got an upper hand. Or worse, the second one got closer. So, Hiro took no more time to activate Wyvern Kick, and propelled himself high into the air, crashing down onto the shoulders of the monster. He launched himself back off, thanks to the whiplash effect from the skill, and aimed to position himself in the direct middle of the two, before landing and performing Aura Kick.

The usefulness of that skill was that it drew aggro to all the things around the user. Since Hiro probably had the highest defense of the trio, he forcefully opted himself into be the diversion, while the magic damage and the higher-powered damage chipped away at the monstrosities. Hiro's armor also boasted high mobility, so dodge-tanking would be possible from here. The two monsters focused immediately on him, thanks to him landing with a loud thud, after using a large sum of mana. This would make sure that he was the center of attention no matter what. If he needed to blast away more mana to keep his allies under the cover of their aggro, he would. He had no problem making enough noise to keep them focused on him. Hiro grinned, as he already had a chance to dodge. The first golem swung down its mighty arm at the Monk, which he easily leaped backwards to avoid. The second golem followed up, but not even remotely quickly. Hiro cartwheeled away to the left, and turned to face the second one, before shooting a Hadouken an Aura Dragon Punch at it, to keep his aggro high. Impacting and dealing some decent damage, Hiro turned to face the two monsters, prepared to dodge or tank any hits they would throw at him. Hiro smirked, and waited for his allies to start dealing the hurty hurts.

[1036 Words]

[Elkeid]

It was just as Elkeid feared; two of the stronger golems had targeted them. There was no mistaking it; the first golem was headed right for them, and the second followed after Renai used some spell on the first. Elkeid was not going to pretend to understand the nature of these monsters. They needed to be dealt with quick, and - yep. There went Hiro. The woman simply stood back with Renai as the male monk charged at the golems, evading their pitiful attempts to strike and hurt him. She didn't know what other classes were capable of, so she would let Renai do whatever it is enchanters do best, and darted towards one of the golems.

Her throwing skills were pretty much out of the question; even taking video game logic into account, some things were simply too big to be tossing around. That left her other skills, like Bullet Punch and Tiger Echo Fist. Alternatively, she could also use her knives, but those were several levels below her fists. Elkeid stifled a groan as she came within striking distance of her targeted golem. This was going to suck, and she had nothing to cushion the blow with.

Her stupid golem was so busy dancing with Hiro that it failed to notice her and the fist she sent colliding into the ground at its feet, activating her Tiger Echo Fist skill. The ground beneath her feet shook with a great force, and even made the golem stagger about like a drunk college girl, its arms thrown out in a shoddy attempt at stabilizing itself. It took some damage from the attack, but was too stubborn to fall over. Elkeid was kind enough to help it; she dropped low to the ground and swept one foot at the golem's foot. The golem's arms spun faster in futility. Another sweep of her legs caused it to stumble and trip over the earth. "TIMBER!" That yell was for Hiro and Renai's benefit, in case they happened to be standing near the now falling golem.

Seeing the golem try to break its fall made Elk try something risky. The prayer beads bound to her wrist dimly glowed as she seized the golem by one of its massive fists and jumped into the air, pulling its arm backwards and further messing with its equilibrium. She was actually going to try and Suplex a golem, against her better judgment. For a moment it seemed like it would work, too, but she only made the golem groan in pain and twist to one side. One thing she learned was that golems were neeping heavy. If it wasn't already too late to drop the act, she would have. She unfortunately had to suffer for her mistake, and spent the next few moments running around in a circle, trying to keep the golem afloat and off of her.

The muscles in Elkeid's arms were screaming for relief when she finally released the golem, sending it staggering towards the other. The second golem tried avoiding the first, but was not fast enough; the heavy sound of earthen rock upon rock erupted into the air, and the entire world seemed to shake as the golems were sent rolling over each other onto the ground. "Ungh." Elkeid swayed in place, not caring if she fell onto the ground. It felt like her arms were bitten all over by fire ants, and the fatigue of dragging the golem's weight was setting in. Expecting her body to be cushioned by soft grass, Elkeid leaned her body back in an undignified fashion. Hiro should be able to finish her golem off for her. If it wasn't dead by now, it should at least be thoroughly injured.

Muse: Train

Notes:Doop doop doop.

Tags:Hirosame & Renai

Word Count:622

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Made by Benetnasch of ET

[Renai]

Welp. That was more or less Renai's only response as Hiro got moving, followed soon after by Elkeid. The enchanter was not a class meant for tanking or being able to take hits, so it wasn't like he was going to go charging in. He'd be far more likely to carefully watch the golems as he fired a single Pulse Bullet at the closer Magic Golem, noting how it turned its attention to Renai soon after. Huh. He continued to move along the sidelines and avoid getting too close as Hiro and Elkeid went ham on the golems, even to the point of attempting to suplex one of them. Jeebus, Elkeid was scary. There really wasn't much Renai could do just moving around, but his hands moved smoothly to cast a single instance of Astral Bind on the 'top golem', forcing it to stay in place and lock the other golem underneath. That would keep them still for a bit. He also managed to get out a Nightmare Sphere underneath Elkeid, keeping the monk from landing too roughly. This support thing was taxing on his mp, but at least the golems would stay out of his way.

Or so he thought until the golems tried to suddenly move towards him. What in the hells. He could see the creatures straining against the ethereal bindings to assault him, but that didn't make any sense. His magic wasn't aggression generating, nor was it particularly strong. It didn't do that much damage, so... did the golems hate magic? That seemed like the reasonable thought, now that he was mulling it over. One of the golems had targeted him only when he used non-damaging magic on the other, so that might have been reasonable. Just these magic ruin golems, perhaps? Thoughts were zipping through Renai's head a mile a minute, but the most obvious result here was that he should keep a distance from the golems. They'd target him whenever he used any magic, so staying away was the thing to do.

As if.

Running forward, Renai vaulted himself upwards with his staff and summoned his Basic Wall from his inventory. The wall in question had a slot for a window, which Renai used as a ledge to get even further up the wall. The thing about walls was that they were for houses and the thing about houses were that they tended to be at least as tall as these 3 meter golems. The end result was that Renai was now on top of a wall, riding it down on top of the Astrally Bound golem pair. Woodcrafting did come in handy. Hopping off the wall and desummoning it after using it as a battering ram, Renai turned around and cast Inversion on the golem with more health, noting Astral Bind had worn off.

Which was good, because Inversion rotated a create 180 degrees. And seeing as golems were basically just a mass of stones, the rotating golem smashed its oversized limbs rather splendidly into the other, decimating it and causing it to crumble into nothing. One golem left for the other two, but Renai had to make sure he landed elegantly. He managed to get one foot solidly on the ground, but tripped soon after and tumbled across the fields for a bit. Not elegant at all. Damn. These golems were going to pay for this.

[Hirosame]

Dodging left and right, constantly avoiding the assault of the golems, Hiro worked up quite a sweat. His body wouldn't stop moving, however, as if he would suffer a great deal of damage. He didn't mind being so agile, of course, and the sweat was just proof of his agility. He hoped that the others would mention something about the way he moved, but these two didn't seem the type to compliment another for just doing what they were supposed to do. He had to shrug that off, grudgingly, but held the hope in his mind. It would be nice. Hell, it'd be awesome. But, these two were already fighting, and here was Hiro, dancing with rocks. Giant, moving rocks. Sure they had runes and seals all over their bodies, but still. They probably wouldn't be significantly damaged if he were to hit them a bunch, either, since he was probably the least useful in the current situation. Elkeid was a higher level, and therefore stronger. Renai had magic, which worked much better against golems than just punching them. However, Hiro had a good total health pool, as well as the best armor in the group, which meant his designated role would be tank.

So he had a purpose. Coolio. He was glad that he could be useful. Not to mention, he was probably the most evasive of the group. Purpose++. So, he kept on dodging, until Elkeid... Wait, what was she doing. What is that woman doing. Why did she call Timber- くそ! Suddenly, Hiro remembered a curse in Japanese, and the golem was falling directly towards the other golem, which Hiro was in the middle of. Hiro started to leap out of there, but probably wouldn't make it out in time. The other golem, which was now paying attention to Renai, was bound by some magical force, which Hiro couldn't unbind. Hiro was effectively between a rock and... Another rock. And one rock was moving towards the other rock. Fast. Hiro needed to get out. He started to move up, but that wouldn't help. He instead went to his left, and dodge-rolled out of the way, with just enough time. The movement was pointless, as the female's attempt to knock over the monster failed. Hiro gave a disgruntled sigh, and glared at Elkeid for a moment. That glare ended swiftly, as Elkeid was attempting to perform a suplex on the golem she was just attacking.

Just what was this woman? She-Hulk? Captain America's genderbent self? God? Probably not the last one, since she couldn't manage to keep the golem up for long. The other one, which Renai had been dealing with, turned into nothingness after the collision of the two golems. Elkeid was all tuckered out now, and it looked like she was ready to let Hiro take on the golem. Although, maybe it was more like she couldn't handle it anymore herself, and decided to let the scrub take care of the rest. He didn't mind, as he wanted to hit something for a little while now. So, Hiro sprung right into action. Hiro launched himself forward with a powerful kick, and sprinted towards the destabilized golem. After propelling himself into the air at least 5 feet, Hiro spun around a few times, before colliding with the golem, delivering a powerful donkey kick right into its torso. Hiro used the momentum transference to propel himself backwards, and land on the ground a little ways away from the golem. Still not dead. If anything, Hiro did a total of 5% health, to its already missing 75%.

Okay, time to stop dicking around. Hiro got into a position reminiscent of a children's action anime where the heroes found a number of orbs equivalent to the number of balls in a genetically modified scrotum. Hiro began pooling his mana into a ball of energy that formed in his hands, and grunted a bit. He would expend a total of 30% of his magic power, in a blast that would deal the final blow on this rock lobster monster. After the mana was up to the number he wanted, he thrust his hands forward, and shouted the skill. "Aura Dragon Fist!!" A powerful blast of blue energy erupted from his hands, and produced a beam-like blast of power. It pierced the mid section of the golem, and disintegrated the torso. Afterwards, the golem began to disappear into data, and the land was calm again. This entire battle consumed a fair deal of Hiro's energy, so he took a seat on the grass, letting his body relax a bit, and letting his heart rate slowly decline back to the norm. Panting just a little bit, Hiro closed his eyes and went into a minor meditation.

[795 Words]

[Elkeid]

Elkeid, who was expecting to have her fall broken by the grass of the flat plains, was pleasantly surprised to feel her descent slowly place her on the ground. Was this all Renai's doing? Her landing was a little too soft for someone who was trying to fall flat on her back. "Whatever." The grass was warm and inviting, though nowhere near as comfortable as a nice bed. She turned over onto her side, so that she could keep an eye (or two) on the men. Renai was...what the neep was Renai doing? Now she felt like she was hallucinating; who rides down a door and uses it as a battering ram? 'Renai does, obviously.' As unorthodox as it may be, she had to commend the man for his creativity.

It was pretty smooth sailing afterwards. One of the golems was turned against the other, killing it via friendly fire. She suspected that the Enchanter had something to do with this, unless she was overestimating the intelligence and precautions of the golems. Hiro, who probably held the Dancer subclass, continued to dance about the remaining golem. He was pretty much the only person on their team that was still standing. She was reclining on the grass, and Renai had taken a light tumble across hard, and unforgiving ground. Elkeid was wondering if she should get up and try helping the redhead out, sans arms, when he finally stopped pussyfooting around and directed a blast of blue energy at the golem's midsection. The golem's torso was the first thing to go, abruptly followed by the rest of its body dissolving into nothingness. If Elkeid's arms weren't so sore, she would have given Hiro a thumb's up.

The ending of the fight meant that they would be departing soon, so Elk decided to milk every second of their resting time. She definitely would not be pulling crazy stunts like that in the future; trying to suplex that stupid golem broke not one, but two of her nails. It was then she realized that she probably picked the wrong class to be fussing over her knuckles like this. Having shorter nails would behoove her in the future. 'But I like having longer nails…'

"KWEH!"

The sudden sound of a cross between whistling and neighing cut through Elk's ears like a knife - mostly because the damn noise was made right in her ear. Temporarily forgetting about the ache in her arms, Elkeid sat up and turned to face the shitass that thought it was funny to blow whistles in people's ears, and found herself staring right into a large, orange beak.

"KWEH!"

Elkeid's expression of anger changed to one of fright and surprise. What she was staring at was a giant chicken or some sort of ostrich. She froze in place as the large, (and hopefully flightless) bird lowered its head to her shoulder.

"KWEH!"

Never in her life had she moved so fast, and like an excited dog, the bird followed. Was this the game's way of getting revenge on players for years of eating poultry? 'Oh God, I don't want to die like this.' This thing likely had the strength of an ostrich or two, so getting kicked by it would definitely hurt.

The next call of "kweh" was met with a fist to the feathers that surrounded the monster's beak. The bird tripped over its own legs and tumbled to the ground, calling out in surprise. Rather than attack her, however, it merely rolled over onto its feet and skulked off, murmuring softly in rejection. "You...giant pansy." The bird cowered near Renai, apparently under the assumption that the Enchanter would help or protect him. "Uh." They had barely started their expedition, and already she was done with Sarum.

After threatening the cowardly bird with a shake of her fist, Elkeid moved over to the meditating Hiro's side. "Whenever you're ready, Hiro." She didn’t want to stick around in one spot for too long, lest something even weirder reared its beak head. It was a shame Blackcoat wasn't here, though. He was a chef, and they had an oversized chicken in the vicinity.

Muse: Horse Power

Notes:Kyou's cameo?

Tags:Hirosame & Renai

Word Count:692

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Made by Benetnasch of ET

[Renai]

Renai let out a bit of a sigh and reached for the handkerchief that should have been there, blinking when he realized it wasn't. Ah. Well. That was going on his list of objects to obtain later. Opting instead to wipe off what dirt he could with his hands, Renai considered which was more unsightly. Wiping your face with your hands or using your sleeves? Neither was particularly appealing to the Enchanter, who was searching the ground carefully for his glasses. Spotting them quickly, the adventurer donned his spectacles once more. Just in time to view the spectacle that was Hiro going super saiyan on the golem. The Enchanter made a mental note not to piss the monk off, as if the class mismatch wasn't deterrent enough. He was meditating, however, and it seemed the appropriate time to carefully evaluate the responses of the golems. He had already more or less determined that the golems were going to aggro anyone who used magic, but it would be foolishness to close off all other paths, simply because a theory had been constructed. Until the truth was certain, the whole world was a cat box.

Or something like that. Renai probably would have continued to contemplate in relative silence while Hiro recovered his energy had a certain fluffy man pigeon not made its presence clear. Elkeid and Hiro were resting, so the Enchanter was on watch duty, but even he could not have forseen the sudden arrival of the feathery ball of sound that appeared next to Elkeid. He could only stare on in surprise as he watched Elkeid and the bird run around, right up until she bapped it in the face. How cruel. Renai glanced at Elkeid for a moment, his look somewhat disheartened at the monk's actions, until the ostrich came up next to him. Renai turned to face the bird in its entirety, watching the creature watch him. They had a moment before the oversized chicken nudged the Enchanter's head lightly with its own. Renai let out an uncommon grin, wrapping his arms gently around the feathered creature's long neck and scratching its head. "Aww, you're a sweetheart."

"KWEH!"

Rather than wince at the sound or get angry, the Enchanter rapped the bird's noggin lightly. He whispered this time, tiptoeing to kiss the creature's cheek and pulling out some bread (a basic level 1 chef material he had on hand), passing it up to the creature. "Volume, dear." "...kweh~" Renai was about to "See? You're so lovely, aren't y-"

Renai froze when he realized that he wasn't, in fact, actually alone. His two party mates were with him. Turning around slowly, a crookedly neutral expression rose to his face. "...Sh-shall we go?" Whether the man pigeon followed or not, that wasn't Renai's call. After all, he was no animal tamer.

[Hirosame]

Hiro's mind was an open sky, clouds below him. The air brushed his hair and face gently, as the world around him was closed off. His body was at rest, and his right hand felt as though water was rushing over it. The feeling of water began to coarse over his entire body, and on the outside, his mana regeneration had increased significantly. This was no trick; his mana began pooling back up quicker than normal. However, what people couldn't see, was the seal on his right palm: a Sigil of Aquarius. This specific sigil was to boost his intelligence score, which would in turn increase his mana regeneration. With this going on, Hiro could find peace within his mind, and let his body recover. Luckily enough, he hadn't expended much, if any, HP, so he didn't need to worry about regenerating health as well. A good thing for him, certainly, since there wasn't any other way of returning HP than getting some kind of healing spell or potion thrown to him, and consuming it. While Renai would probably offer to, Hiro knew that the Enchanter couldn't really heal him.

Speaking of Renai, Hiro opened his eyes sharply at the sound of an annoyingly loud chicken call. Hiro glared over at the bird, and his eyes widened abruptly. He started laughing hysterically. "Man, Elder Tale must be looking for a lawsuit!" Hiro exclaimed, in between gasps for air during his laughter. Hiro fell onto his back, and started to hold his gut, before finally calming himself down over the course of a minute. Hiro sat back up to see the bird walk over to Renai, and Renai's rather... out of character reaction. Hiro's face was locked in a shocked laughing smile, as he couldn't really comprehend what had just happened before him. Renai tried to recover, but to no avail. It was rather obvious that the Enchanter had a soft spot for things like this in his heart, and couldn't help but find it somewhat endearing. Hiro leaned back, and gave Renai a friendly smile, before springing himself backwards using his arms, and landing on his feet a few feet away from where he was sitting.

Hiro checked the sky, to get an idea of the time. When he, Midori, and Fernweh had gone to the Stonehenge site, it was roughly 1 PM, in game time. Since in game time moved much faster than real life, Hiro figured that it had to be about 2 PM when it happened. They needed to cover some more ground, and fast. Hiro ran over to the bird nearby Renai, and tried to hop onto it. It squealed and tossed to the sides, trying to throw Hiro off of it, but after pulling out some popcorn he found at the camp, and offering it to the bird, it seemed to calm down. Looking to his allies, he gave them a defeated smile. "Sorry, but this is really important. We need to move, because the research I need to confirm may only be open for a little while." Hiro patted the bird and pointed in the direction that he needed to go. "Head that way, Stonehenge is just that way!" Hiro called to his allies, before giving the chicken some more popcorn, and the bird started to sprint in the direction he pointed.

He wasn't super sure as to why popcorn would work so well on the beast, but it seemed that it was effective enough. He just had a hunch that the bird would enjoy some popcorn, thanks to a friend of his in the real world who would always pretend he was a bird species in an old JRPG. Either way, the bird was certainly fast. Hiro would probably make it to the site in no time at all, at this rate. Since he, Midori, and Fernweh had left much earlier in the morning than he, Renai, and Elkeid had, Hiro had less time to get to the site directly. If Hiro counted it correctly, the mobs around the site would disappear at around 1:30 PM. There was still a decent amount of time before they would disappear, but Hiro figured that he should probably keep his distance from the site, just to avoid getting into a fight. The last fight took about 5 real-life minutes, which scaled upwards from there. He would prefer to keep all the experience he gets from attacking a monster, before it vanishes. So, fighting was out of the question. Hiro could very soon after this thought see the site, and the golems patrolling it. He brought the chicken to a halt, and found a nearby tree. He brought the bird over to the tree, which on the other side had a large stone slab where he could hide and watch from. He placed some popcorn nearby on the ground, and let the bird eat it. He'd need to keep it around, if he needed to get out immediately.

[831 Words]

[Elkeid]

If Elk was hoping that things would not get any weirder, she was wrong - very wrong. That giant neeping chicken was receiving some very...well, strange did not even begin to explain it; Renai was fawning over the bird like it was his beloved pet dog or something. He was hugging and kissing the thing, and even fed it a piece of bread. The show of affection from the man was making her a little uncomfortable. He really did not seem like the type to do this.

Whereas Elkeid was creeped out by the display, Hiro apparently thought it was hilarious. His boisterous display of laughter did not help to make her feel any better about the situation. Renai's behavior was certainly no laughing matter; just embarrassing to see. She turned away from both gents and the oversized chicken to gaze out at the field behind them. It was just a wide, open plain, broken by the occasional rock or golem. Yep. Nothing awkward here.

She only turned around at the signs of Hiro's dying laughter, assuming that both men had regained their postures. What she saw was Hiro goofing around and Renai more or less back to his old self. Hiro hopped onto the bird's back, which put up a small fight before being placated with popcorn. Elk watched this play out with an expression of exasperation. They could have been gone by now, instead of playing around with the local wildlife. "You have got to be kidding me," She muttered to herself as the bird issued another cry of "KWEH!" It wasn't instantaneous, but a small group of those birds appeared in the distance. Was it calling out to its friends all along, or was it really that chatty?

"Uuh, how about no?" The small group of birds were running from Hiro and their friend, Renai, and her. The newly arrived birds seemed to have learned that food could be attained from the humanoids, and were shamelessly begging, nudging and gently nipping at shoulders. Elkeid scared the birds away from her by raising and shaking a fist. "If you want food, you'll have to work for it," she warned. They would have to find work and food elsewhere, however, since she had no interest in riding one of those things. Elkeid disliked horses, ever since one tried to throw her off as a child. There was no way in hell she would allow a giant chicken to cart around, either. "I'd rather run."

She waited a moment for Renai, watching over the man in case the birds grew murderous, and then drew away when all seemed well. Running alongside the chickens was obviously unfair; they had longer and stronger legs, and could sprint faster at an ease she could not muster. Elkeid was tempted to trip one, just so she could get the satisfaction of being ahead. 'At least I'm not likely to end up on someone's dinner plate.' Stupid chickens. Stupid golems. It was hard to keep up the spiteful thoughts when her lungs and legs were pleading for relief, though.

Tumbling to the ground in exhaustion would probably not be a strange sight now, but Elk forced herself to calmly kneel near the tree Hiro and his "steed" were resting at. The fact that they had stopped here meant that they were close to their destination. 'The sooner the better.'

Muse: Troublesome Visitor

Notes:Meh

Tags:Hirosame & Renai

Word Count:564

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Made by Benetnasch of ET

[Renai]

[sorry for the wait]

The surprising cuteness of the feathery avians aside, Hiro was laughing at him. That, Renai could handle. After all, maybe it was a bit out of character, but as long as it was funny and not... well, Elkeid's response. She didn't need to say anything for Renai to understand instantly. After all, her posture and her attitude made it all too apparent. The Enchanter let out a sigh and glanced back over at Hiro, who was now jumping on top of the bird and feeding it popcorn. Renai could feel the hairs on the back of his neck bristle at the rather rude action, feeling a little sorry for the bird, but eventually gave up caring. Whatever. He was wasting his time anyway, these two were going to do whatever they were going to do. He might have let himself slip after riding that wall down on top of a golem, but the simple truth of the matter was that he wasn't the type to care as much as he had thus far. So he stopped. It was just another inelegant reaction to something new.

Thirty seconds later, Renai's eyes didn't even flicker at the arrival of a whole herd of the birds. It was just another creature in this world and whatever he might have felt for them was pointless. A waste of energy and a waste of time, with no clear benefit. That was right, wasn't it? Feeding these things was like offering food to a bear in the wild. They were disturbing the ecosystem. He had to fix that. Elkeid had turned around and started running, but Renai had something else he needed to do. They seemed to favor him because he had been nice to the other bird, but they were about as wrong as they could be. Renai reached up for the neck of one of the birds and, rather than hugging it gently, stuck his leg out, shifted his weight, and snapped the bird's neck as he brought it down to the ground. Done. The other birds let out a horrible screech, having just witnessed one of their own being murdered, but Renai raised his hands and made a threatening gesture, so they scattered. Crying, squealing, they ran from him, leaving him to quietly walk towards Stonehenge. There wasn't any loot from the bird, so Renai just walked towards Stonehenge, moving quickly now that there wasn't anything to aggro him. After all, anything that would have was now dealing with hysterical yellow feathered birds. Sucks to be them.

Five minutes after Elkeid arrived, Renai did as well, his expression giving away nothing. Stonehenge, huh?

[Tags: Hirosame Elkeid ]

[Hirosame]

Hiro was still crouched down, waiting for the thing to happen. Elkeid and Renai were still not here by this time, but the bird was still there. Hiro looked over to the flightless avian, and began to pet the beast. It was a rather friendly bird, once you went ahead and fed the damn thing. Perhaps a cavalier could use this as a makeshift mount, since horses weren't as common as one would like to expect. Hiro found himself smiling a bit, patting the bird's head and beak. The bird started to squawk, but Hiro patted it a little more and it kept quiet. It would suck if the golems nearby could hear the bird, came rushing over, and forced Hiro into a fight he didn't want to have to deal with quite yet. It was about now that Elkeid had shown up, panting as if she just ran a marathon. Hiro wondered why the female didn't just go ahead and ride the ostrich-looking birds, but figured that he shouldn't mention anything about it. Instead, he gave a small smile, and a nod, welcoming her. To each their own, he supposed.

A few minutes later, Renai had waltzed up, keeping his composure about himself. It looked like he managed to keep calm long enough to return to his usual self. Hiro snickered a bit a the Enchanter, but stopped himself from laughing in front of the man, as a sign of respect. Taking a moment to look back to the Enchanter, Hiro greeted him as he did Elkeid, and looked over to the site of Stonehenge again. Just as he did, the monsters nearby the site disappeared, and the rocks seemed to glitch a bit. Hiro nodded to himself a bit, and hopped back onto the bird. He fed it a little more, and looked over to his allies. "I need you guys to stay here. I'm gonna ride on this bird next to the site, and then I'll start running directly back towards camp. I want you guys to watch where it despawns, okay?" Hiro had a feeling that they would have no idea what he was talking about, but they'd find out soon enough. Hiro checked the time: 1:30 PM. It was time to roll.

Hiro started to direct the bird to the site, and got it to move at full speed. Hiro and the bird ran alongside the site for a little bit, before the shaking of the ground began. The bird started to quiver and shake from the movement of the ground, and knocked Hiro off of it for a moment. He managed to grab onto the side of the bird, which was now falling over to the other side. Hiro was flipped over the bird, as the stones of Stonehenge began to fall down around him. Pushing the bird to get up, Hiro hopped back onto the avian, and the ground ceased shaking. Directing the bird away from the site a little ways, the grounds shook again, and the mechanical limbs of the soon-to-be golem started to rise from the ground. The pieces of stone started to form into the Stonehenge golem that he, Fernweh, and Midori had seen just the day before. So, Hiro concluded one thing already: It spawned every day. Now, he just needed to find its effective range.

The golem was now standing tall, over the monk and the bird. Its headpiece started to glow green, as it had before, and it targeted the man and beast combo. Hiro directed the bird away from the site, and started running directly towards the camp, with the golem very closely behind him. It kept up the pace with the ostrich, but couldn't get any closer at maximum speed. Hiro knew that the bird was also running as fast as it could be, for sure, and hoped the golem wouldn't pull some kind of a cheap trick to catch up suddenly. Luckily enough, it had no known skill to do so, as far as he knew most golems to be, and the monster eventually despawned. Hiro slowed the bird down, and turned back towards where Renai and Elkeid were. The bird trotted back to them, and Hiro hopped off the side of the bird, giving it more food. He crouched down again, and looked at his allies. "Could you tell where it stopped from here, guys?" Hiro looked at them both sternly, as if this kind of a thing were the most important factor of the trip.

[753 Words]

[Elkeid]

Had Elk been around to witness Renai snap the bird's neck, she would have berated him for leaving the corpse behind. Even if it turned out that he couldn't cook it, they could still carry it back to camp and find someone who could. A bird that size was enough to feed more than several people, and comfortably, too. But she did not see Renai manhandle the bird, having reached Hiro and his bird before the Enchanter. Hiro waited for Renai to come in before going back to business; he was volunteering to ride near the Stonehenge site, where monsters had just vanished from. Elk thought it a queer sight, as she did not see anyone dispatch the golems. Was this a spawning thing…?

"Take care," she said as Hiro bade them farewell and trotted off on the bird. There was something weird about the large rocks that made up Stonehenge, and she was glad that she was not going to be the one to inspect it. And why was the despawning point so important? The bad feeling she was getting was growing with the passage of time, and made itself apparent soon enough.

As Hiro's bird raced alongside Stonehenge, something akin to an earthquake started and threatened to overturn man and bird. A harder shake was successful, and even managed to knock down the stones of Stonehenge. The ground shook a little more after Hiro and the bird got their bearings, but this time a large, mechanical hand erupted from the ground. Elkeid furrowed her brow as she watched the golem materialize with the aid of Stonehenge. That definitely wasn't normal, and attempting to suplex something that large would only hurt her in the end. "What the hell is that thing," she muttered to no one in particular. ...And why was Hiro leading the monster back here of all places?

"Urk…" Something told her that they would not have much of a chance against a golem like that, and she would like to avoid the long walk from the Cathedral to Sarum. She had remained kneeling this entire time, but now pushed herself up to her feet, never taking her eyes off the large and lumbering golem that was tailing Hiro. Fortunately it stopped, just twenty Scoria's from her tree - 'Scoria's? Why the hell am I measuring in units of 'Scoria'?" That was so wrong on so many levels. So, so wrong. Of course it wouldn't stop there, even when Hiro was asking and Renai was also in hearing range. "It stopped about three Scoria's-" 'neep.' "Roughly seven meters away." Hopefully neither males had had the displeasure of running into the original Scoria. Her own encounter with him was far from pleasant.

Muse: Cocaine

Notes:There.

Tags:Hirosame & Renai

Word Count:454

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