Eternal Salvation [Closed]

[Hirosame]

Hiro walked up to the hill where he was to meet a group of players for a certain mission. He would be on guard duty for this quest, since it involved a Priestess having been called out to a nearby village that had recently been attacked. It was his job to make sure that the Priestess, and whoever else went along on this quest, would make it back home safely. He wasn't sure if he was the only one who was going to be doing the guarding, but that was beside the point. The location and travel out to the village was going to be the toughest part, since Sarum is not a very friendly place. So, he would probably be more useful for the trip out, rather than being in the actual village. It wasn't set in stone what it was they were going to be doing there, or what attacked this village, but there was one thing that he could gather from this: It involved spirits in some way, shape or form. This is explained by the presence of a Priestess, or at least, it was suggested by the presence.

The village itself was pretty far off into the Sarum terrain, being at least 2 miles out from the point where Hiro was now. He looked off into the distance, and saw the forest, where the village was hidden inside. He had no knowledge of where in this forest that the village would be, or what type of a village it would be. All he knew was that they needed help, and Hiro was going to do his best to make sure that these people were going to get at least some kind of help. Whether he had to do some rebuilding or whatever as well, it didn't really matter. He had more than enough physical strength to carry out such tasks. So, for now, he just needed to wait for his allies to arrive, whenever they would show up. But, the village would take them a while to get to, since it was across 2 miles of plains, and then deep inside a forest, where little to no light could pierce through. It might be a challenge in and of itself just to get there. But, a challenge was just another thing for Hiro to overcome. His mentality would always remain this way.

He kept looking off in the distance, over towards the village. He wondered about what it could be. What was wrong there, that they needed a Priestess to help fix it? Did someone, or some thing, attack it? At least the day would be nice enough for Hiro and his companions to travel with few problems. It was sunny outside, but it wasn't too warm. Even though this was the case, he was standing below the shade of a tree, waiting atop this hill. He then began to wonder who would be coming along on this mission? What type of people would they be? If there were going to be girls, would they be cute? At that very moment, he could feel Saeko's cold gaze upon him, and his shoulders stiffened. The second he thinks about things like that, he feels like Saeko knew. And she would give him hell for it later on, whether he actually did something about it or not. Saeko was a bit too controlling of a friend, in many ways, but Hiro got himself caught up in it. He was the only one to blame for such a thing happening, and he only sighed as he accepted his fate. Whatever, the others should be arriving soon enough. All he had to do was wait a bit longer.

[618 Words]

Tags: kittygrey, Inori, Tobin

[Tobin]

(OOC: Not sure how well this post was written. I wanted to make huge silly exchanges. XD)

Word Count: 830

The wild Frontier of the Serum border was a harsh place to live. Only recently had real repopulation began in the area and it was thought, that at some point, nothing native could have survived the steady onslaught of mobs that had pushed the Landers back to London. Yet, in some isolated places where the spirits were strong and the woods dense, there had been some isolated settlements that existed separate from the main body of landers and had eked out an existence within the isolated woodland. As a consequence though, the villages were slow to re-join the main body of landers, isolation had made them weary of outsiders and they were slow to abandon the lands that they had long lived. Instead they had sent select members of the order to request aid from the capital to send out parties of adventurers to solve their disputes. The details for this particular occasion was sparse, the village had been attacked by something supernatural, possibly beyond the veil. Something something evil, something something dark side...

The Tobin paused with raised eyebrows as he glanced blankly up through the forest glades at what little sunlight could penetrate the leaf cover before he shrugged. He really had to start reading the briefing’s for these quests.

"Somethin' Strange, in the woods, who ya gonna calll? GHOST BUSTERS."

The dwarf, was of course, in jossal spirits. Ghosts? Pah, unless they referred to the solvents they had probably sniffed prior to the ghost hearings, they didn't exist. Never mind the fact that this was a differnt world, the dwarf didn't believe in the spirit world in any sense of the world, it was all smoke, mirrors and magic from the Western and Eastern Kingdoms used to deceive the weak minded. That villagers had played the game that families ort not to for too long. Perhaps this stemmed from the fact he was morbidly terrified of the undead and was just trying to keep the fear out of his head with any excuse, no matter how unreasonable.

"I'm not affaid of NO GHOST"

The Dwarf drew his cloak tighter and tipped the wavied broad hat forward as he advanced up the forest trail, the hat had been one such request he had vaguely recalled as a requirement for entry, as they believed that those that looked up into the light through the foliage would peer directly into the other world and have a part of the soul stolen. The dwarf chanced another glance at the treeline and chuckled, poppycock, it just had to be. But customs were to be respected if he wanted a decent pay check.

Eventually the trees gave way to village land and, under the mysterious lustrous green of the weeping willow stood a singlar figure that seemed familiar to him, but the memory seemed distant. Even with the cloak drawn firm around him, the brown beard that poked over his grey overrobe betrayed his identity. The monk tipped his hat up to get a good look at the man and the woman with his sharp blue eyes. Though the name eluded him, the reputation of a warrior strong in the way of fist wash reached his ears, with a hair of fire, with a text size as big as his author's broad capability to imitate any accent. The only other monk of his calibre had been the legendary angel of Elkrid, which was the reason that a tension hung in the eye as he eyed the mysterious fellow in particular up. The eastern magic that the two monks could potentially exchange would likely be enough to fill several pages of a saga book and the falling of several trees worth of cherry blossoms, or at the very least embroid a new asciot tie.

"It be said tha' a warrior on the same road must exchange names and titles, so tha' they part one will remember the others name, long after they left the mortal coil." The dwarf withdrew his left hand from the robe, a single broad brass knuckle duster with 4 protrusions that spelled out a simple word, Kiss. "I am Tobin Strider froam Liverpool, tha city of chains, as Lord of the Party, I drank Caerbannog, Oxford, The Ice Bitch and Captain Stiffy undar da table when I were just a whelp. Wha' feat can you attest to, Monk? Mahaps, more importantly, will ya be a road bump or an aid on the trek of life?"

Well actually, truth to be told he couldn't even remember what happened that night. But since there was none to attest against that, he was going to claim on that to big up his ego anyway. In any case, the dwarf removed the hat momentarily to expose his full face, a bold grin on his features as he gave a bold wink.

“In any case, a pleasure ta meet ya.”

[Inori]

”Ohh god, ohh, god, ohh god. How could this happen?! You could say that Inoris current mental state, was nothing less than a total wreck at the moment. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach, whirling around to such an extreme rate, that she was feeling a terrible nausea.
Everything had been a seemingly normal day, before some dastardly old high priest in Londonium had caught sights of her on the stone street. With a white pole in one hand and a young boy in the other, he’d loudly forced his way through the crowded street and patted her on her back, whilst he dumped the child onto her.
You could imagine her surprise when a priest she’d never met, and a high positioned one like that, just left the responsibility of a child to her on a whim like that. What more that surprised her was that a priest of Abrahamic origin, actually had approached her at all. Those priest and their ”true only god” was usually not very pleased with an Ethnic priest of Shinto, in the presence of their people. And she couldn’t really blame them for that eiter, if another religion came into their city and started to influence people there, it meant less power for them in the long run.
Anyhow, as she obviously wanted an explanation over the priests inconsequent actions, she asked the meaning behind this. And ohh my, she wish that she wouldn’t have. The NPC started to swarm her with an eternal ranter that never seemed to end, and she found herself lost in the conversation, unable to object or speak her own mind. When everything finaly ended, she didn’t event think twice when the obnoxious man asked her if she accepted their mission. Apparently they didn’t have time to solve it and was reluctantly passing it over to her.

She honestly didn’t give a rats arse about what their humble reasons was. They needed to make their way with their ”one ruler” and get out of her sight before she’d ripp herself apart. They were annoying with their endless complaints and she couldn’t stand their despicable way of looking down upon all other minor religions that moved around in their territory. They could bet their darn cross with the dude piked on it that she’d come back in certain time and wash over their money eating religion.
It was more than apparent that Inori didn’t like their religion, just as much as they didn’t like hers.
To make things just a little bit worse, the young boys stomach growled, loud enough to get the attention of those who wasn’t already witnessing the scene between the two priests from different culture. So she couldn’t bear the drilling stares of the onlookers and took the child to a restaurant before she made her way out of the city, out towards Sarum.

And now here she was, walking with a boy in one hand and walking with her trusty staff in the other. She just hoped that she didn’t look like a parent, taking a walk with her child whilst she walked down the road. But it was probably a baseless thing to worry about, considering that the child was human and she was a fox tail.
She didn’t really know how the genetics in this world worked out but… She’d rather not know such things until it was actually relevant to her.
So after all this… What was she so worried about? Obviously, so far things haven’t been bothering her that much. She quickly got to know that she should escort the child home because his father still had some buisness to get done in Londonium, but the caretaking of a child shouldn’t be that hard… Right? At least that wasn’t what worried her.
What worried her to death, was when she realised what kind of role she had in this party mission. It basicly depended on that she could calm down the people in this distant village and maybe exorcise some spirits if needed be. But she was only a level 1 priestess! She’d never had the time to do any priestess duty so far! And whilst everyone has to begin somewhere, she imagined that she should have gone to some graveyard and freshing it up as her first duty. Or maybe, together with a carpenter, try to design and place a small praying area on the road. But this quest was nothing like that. Ohh no, it could have huge consequences if she were to screw this up.

She felt stiff in her movement and she realised that both of her bleach fox tails wagged in a flustered manner. She started to take a bit more notice to her surroundings, in case of that someone or something was planning to make an ambush on her. Not that she could do that much to fight it off but, at least she could take the boy and run before the impending danger was about to strike.
But there was nothing that was seemingly out of place anywhere around them. All that could be heard was the rustling of leaves drawn away by the autumn wind, the slight harmonised generated from the bells in her hair and the constant shuddering of the boy next to her. She was astonished how she had not caught up the sound earlier than this and tried her best to wrap him in her two flurry tails, in a desperate attempt to make him at least a little bit warmer.

She spotted two distant figures under the tree, up at the hill where she was supposed to meet up with her teammates for this particular quest. There was no doubts that they were the ones that she’d team up with. She always seemed to be late at the occasions when she was supposed to meet up with others… A bad habit indeed. She just hoped that they just arrived here too, because she had no desire of arguing about time after walking all this way with a dead silent kid in one hand and a worried mind that was breaking down her self esteem.
But she managed to regain her composure by the time she’d arrived next to the two monks. She gave both of them a tranquil smile whilst she was closing in, and stopped only a few feet away from them.

”Good evening to you two.” She began. ”I hope that I haven’t been making you wait for too long. Nice to meet you, my name is Inori and I am the priestess of this quest. I hope you two won’t mind my lowly level of twelve and is looking forward to cooperate with you two on this mission.” Even giving off a small bow to them. She had been a hardcore roleplayer after all, back when she played the game in Japan. If she was going to give of the gentle and confident shrine maiden image that she was striving for, she’d better get her darn act together and try to disregard her worries until later when she actually arrives at the village.

”Would anyone of you perhaps know if someone else, other than us was supposed to join this party to the village?” She finaly ended. The boy had still not yet given of a sound. It actually seemed like he was hiding behind her tail, as if to avoid the gaze of the highly muscular dwarf monk that was standing in front of them.

[Words 1252]

Tags: kittygrey, Hirosame, Tobin

[kittygrey]

Well, the day had started out like any other day, in a fantasy role-playing game, as the fox tail cleric stumbled out of bed, hair in a messy chaos, eyes still closed, mouth wide open in a yawn. She stretched out her arms, raising herself off of the cotton bedding and managed to open her eyes into small slits. The sun was peaking through the small blinds the covered only apart of the window and her eyes felt like they were burning. She rubbed them, hopefully to cure them of their wake and tried once again to open them, shuddering as she did so. She had never been much of a morning person, but morning it was not. She walked out into the dining room of a little old woman, a PoL they were referred to in this land and smiled to her, giving her a 'good morning' greeting and sitting down with her at the table. "How was your sleepy, Kitty?" Ame smiled, "It was well, and yours?" The woman smiled and told her it was well. It was funny though, because she rarely saw the woman sleep, in fact, she had never seen her sleep. She tilted her head, wondering if they even did, but decided to toss the thought out of the window as the older woman haded her a poster, or more so a flyer of sorts. "This was dropped on the door step, seems they need adventurers."

Ame thanked the woman, grabbing the flyer and heading out the door. Like normal, the old woman followed her out and yelled after her to come back anytime, waving frantically to her. She turned and smiled wide, waving back. The NPC was almost like a grandmother to her, something she had never had the chance to have. She had been adopted by a family at a young age, and her mother's mother and father had passed away long before that, and her father's, well, they were a different story. They were cold, and hated children, seemingly, even their own. They had rarely came along, and when they had adopted Ame, well, that was the last time she had ever seen them. They had called her a disgusting child. She frowned and shook her head. "Get out of my head.. Now.." She looked down at the flyer and began to read. Adventurers needed. Sarum. Something about a terrorized village and a priestess. Well, she hadn't read through it completely, more like skimmed. She was always down for a mission, and this would be her first time in Sarum, actually, her first time ever hearing of it even. The flyer had told her to meet atop a hill, just outside of the forest. She shrugged at the lack of description and wondered who would have wrote this flyer but she tossed the thought away and began to run. She was sure she would be running behind everyone else who took it on.

Finding her way into that part of the world had been easy, but the sun was a few hours from setting and she still hadn't been able to find the hill. "How hard can it be to find a hill?! There's the forest.. There's more forest.. Oh look, a giant hill.." She shook her head at the hill. She must have took the long way around it, and she had wasted alot of energy running, but she didn't want to keep the party waiting any longer. As she came to the bottom of it, she saw two tall people, and a short man standing atop, but wait, was that a child with the woman? She trudged up the hill and as she came to the top she stopped, dead in her tracks. "Sensei?! Is that you?" She smiled widely and jumped on the dwarf's back as she laughed. She didn't stay there for long as she waved to the other man, seemingly another monk and bowed her head to the girl. "You must be the priestess I've heard so much about." Okay, so she hadn't heard, just read, and she didn't read much, just that there was a priestess involved and to find her on top of the hill. Well, there she was. Ame looked down at the child, certainly not the fox tail priestess'. Made her wonder where he had come from, but none the less she bent down and smiled at the child widely. "And who is this handsome young man?" She giggled, and waited for him to say something.

*Words: 754*
*Tags: Hirosame, Tobin, Inori*

[Hirosame]

While Hiro was waiting and thinking, he wondered what exactly the adventurers would be needed for, and why it was imperative to have a priest/priestess with them. The only thing that came to mind was either some kind of spirit trouble, or that there were some couple getting married, and they did not want to leave their lovely village just to have their wedding. Selfish, but somewhat practical. Taking advantage of the adventurers, which were becoming more and more commonplace in this world, was probably the best option they had at the time. Granted, it wasn't up to a player to wed someone, at least that's what he thought. It wasn't set in stone at all, so he didn't really have any real way to tell if that was true or not. Maybe he'd find out about that one day. Or, maybe that would be the case for Caer and Kumori's wedding, which was a week or so away from now. But, that was beside the point.

It didn't take long enough at all for the Monk to be greeted by someone, literally, half his size. And a guy, too. Was this a dwarf? Hiro hadn't actually seen one in this game before! This was new. And he seemed kinda lyrical, almost like a bard of some sort, despite the Monk symbol on his health bar. A fellow Brother-in-Arms! A rather polite one, at that. Which was pretty sweet. Hiro nodded to the dwarf, and immediately looked to him as an equal. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Tobin. The name's Hiro, and I don't really have anything spectacular that I can claim for myself. However, I know Caer, Oxford, and Scoria. I look forward to holding the front line with you, my brother." Hiro gave an energetic smile to the dwarf, followed swiftly by a thumbs up. He was about to say more, when what he presumed was the Priestess had shown up. And not alone, either. She was bringing with her... a child?

Perplexed and confused, Hiro looked at the Priestess, then the child, and back to the Priestess. Was this her...? No, probably not. The girl looked to be a bit too young to have borne a child. At least, that's what he figured. But, he just let things slide as they were, since this was all a first-impression kind of thing. The Priestess took no time in introducing herself, but she left the child out entirely. Maybe this child was someone whom she had just randomly found? No idea. But, now she was bowing to the two, which seemed weird to him. Such formalities aren't usually shared between the meeting of two people. But, Hiro followed suit either way, and returned the bow. "Greetings, Priestess." He began. "Call me Hiro. I'll help make sure you and the child get to the village safely." Maybe mentioning the child like that was probably a bad idea, but he didn't really think it would be much of a problem. It wasn't that big a deal, right?

It was about at this time that the Cleric of the group showed up, who Hiro imagined was probably going to be the last to arrive on the list. Double checking, he made sure to take a mental note of all their names. Tobin, Inori, and kittygrey, in that order of those who had shown up. Hiro greeted the female Cleric, with a nod of his head. "Hey, I'm Hiro. I'll be helping in bringing you to the village." He figured that that should be enough of a greeting for now, and if he needed to add more, he would later down the road. Literally. But, for now, it seemed that everyone's attention was turning towards the child. Hiro smiled softly towards the young man, and turned his head off to the distance. He observed the fields, just to make sure that things weren't going to be in the way. If Tobin was going to be the other guard detail for this trip, it would probably be easy for them to clear through all the monsters on the way, if there were any.

But, it looked like the coast was clear for now. So, he turned back around to address the band of adventurers that had assembled before him, with a kind smile on his face. "Okay, so here's what's gonna happen. As you know, we need to head to a village because they called for help. The village is roughly two miles from here, off in that forest over yonder." Hiro pointed to accentuate his point. "No idea what's going on there, but I can only assume bad stuff. Tobin and I will be guarding you guys, so whatever happens on the road, you let us take care of, okay?" With that, Hiro's introduction to the mission was done. He turned around, and put his fist up into the air. "Let's move out, whenever you're ready!" He didn't even decide to wait at this point. He was already walking forward. If the others needed some time to collect themselves, then they would have it. Hiro wasn't moving very fast, either. Just a casual stroll to a village in the forest. No big deal, right?

[872 Words]

[Tobin]

Word Count: 798

The dwarf registered the other monk's response with a slight chuckle, perhaps slightly relieved that he hadn't been called out all this way merely for fisticuffs. Someone had bribed a lander to do that once, the poor runt was a third of his level back when he was level 30. Dwarf handled probably wasn't the right term for it. In any case whatever atmosphere the Dwarf carried faded away as he flicked his robes open and closed the distance between him and Hiro as he extended his hand out, exposing the green hues of his silk vest and the yellow of his sash that held the pants up, though perhaps the most fetching thing on the dwarfs person was the crimson ascot tie laced with very minute, gold lettering. He could relax a little now, since within the village he had less of a liberty to do so.

"I be geussin' tha' a woman took ya spine too? Ahahah! I just jest, if ya be a friend of them ya be a friend of mine buddeh."

After any handshakes were exchanged, the lazy gaze drifted back down the hill towards a light. More precisely the white hair and the white waistcoat and red that cut across into the landscape like a painting against the green and oranges of the treeline. Unlike Hiro (as in, he sort of had the impression he had seen him somewhere before.), Tobin had no prior recollection of this one so his eyebrow rose, his second eyebrow rose as he noticed a second smaller figure behind her. A chuckle accompanied that as tilted his head back and whispered very lightly to the red head.

"Bet ya 5 gold tha' 'er child."

After a few minutes more the woman was before them. It was at this distance that he noticed that, even for an adventurer she was quite exotically dressed like Miko from the land of the rising sun. It was quite apparent that, even before she spoke, that she seemed to be the one they had been waiting for. It was that or he had walked into an cosplaying convention, though as she spoke to them with the screne smile and even had the curiosity of the mannerisms adopted by that culture, that the dwarf found his head bowing without being aware of it, though his big smile widened as he rose back up to his full height.

"A pleasure ta meet ya too priestess, it seems ya arrived nay too earleh or late, but precisely when ya did. In any case mah arm be strong, so rest assured in mah presence tha’ no wrong will come ta ya. Thou as for others, I knuw not."

The latter statement was intended to refer to others coming, though Tobin’s vagualities in speech and curious accent meant that his word had many meanings, perhaps more than intended. In any case, the dwarf felt his eyes drawn to the kid that eyed him with curiosity, though as soon as the musclebound brick looked in his direction he disappeared, a chuckle emanated from the stocky biped, oblivious to the presence of another adventurer approaching up the path behind him.

“Tis tha’ ya wee laddie ther’, or are the men just gettin’ smaller?”

Another moment later, the dwarf heard a familiar voice behind and, before he could turn he felt a person jump onto his back and hug him, the dwarfs eyes widened in shock from the surprise, though considering the absence of height resulted in his head nestled between two comfortable pillows, he felt no urgent need to be free. The dwarf gave a roaring laugh as he tried to look up through the hair and reached up to-

NO DWARF!!!

-pat her on the shoulders in a friendly greeting. What did you think he was going to do, avid readers?

….

“Howdy Grasshopper! ya be doing well lassie? Fanceh meetin’ ya ‘ere.” The dwarf glanced over to the rest of the party with a smile, to clear up any confusion from this meeting. “We know each other, she is Kittygrey, I been her animal tamer mentor.” So much for clearing up the confusion, dwarf.

With that settled and the dwarf freed from his prison, he listened to the briefing with a curious eyebrow, even throughout the briefing. Only toward the end he put on the weaved hat as he gave his valid import

“Man, we look like something taken straight out ofa oriental adventure! I be takin’ up tha’ rear of the party.”

With that he clicked his fingers, summoned his Gerald and jumped onto it’s back and prepared to journey onward, eastward to the town with no name.

Only then did the dwarf chuckle at the unintended innuendo in his last sentence. Some habits die hard.

[Inori]

Inori was actually quite please with her company this time. They were obviously not bad people, or that’s what she’d gotten the impression of them so far at least. If there was something to really complain about, it might have been the heavy accent on the dwarfs language. She certainly didn’t have anything against the dwarf, no rather the other way around, he was quite enjoyable that way. But it was hard to hear what he said and meant some times during their exchange of words.
The sudden appearance of the second fox tail seemed to anwer her earlier question. It was a nice feeling that she wasn’t the only female in the group too. Inori’s first impression of her was kind of… Airheadish. She’d never be able to act in such a manner herself, implying that she probably wouldn’t hug a man from behind in front of fair amount of strangers watching, even as a roleplay. But her cheerful tone together with her pure, happy attitude, heavily directed that her actions wasn’t to play around or to manipulate men. Therefore, labeled as an happy airhead to Inori instead.
She’d already shifted her attention from the wide burly dwarf, to the thin measly boy, greeted him and expectantly seemed to await some kind of answer from him.

But the boy didn’t look like he was in the mood for it at the moment, and shyly tried to dig himself even deeper into Inoris tails, in a futile attempt to conceal himself. Too bad for him, because Inori was nowhere near an amount of tails with the volume to fully complete such a feat yet.

”You’ll have to excuse him, he’s the grandson of the chief elder in said village that we’re going towards this quest.” She gave off a troubled smile towards the blonde and unveiled the child from her tails before things got wierd. ”His father still had some buisness in Londonium that needed attending to, before going back home. And the boy had already been there three days by now, so he needed to be escorted home as soon as possible.” Inori then took a small break with the talking. She gave the boy a glance before she patted him a few times and continued talking to Kittygrey. ”I’ve actually yet to hear him say a single word, despite the fact that I’ve treated him lunch and walked him all the way over here from Londonium. So I wouldn’t take it too hard with him not answering you yet. By the way, my name is Inori, a priestess and a shaman. A pleasure to meet you Miss Kittygrey.”
She gave the fox tail an identical bow of which she had already given the two monks and then put her hand upon the boys shoulder. ”Though I suggest we take our leave now, wouldn’t want to make too much distance between the group, would we?” Inori said, as she hinted with her gaze, pointing it towards Hirosame who had already begun to make is way down the hill.

It didn’t taket hem very long to catch up with the human. Hell, she bet that Hirosame had walked slowly on purpose so that they could catch up, considering that he didn’t seem to have any problems in increasing the pace when the other four members arrived behind him.
And now! They were on their way! …

…

…..

…..

… …. …..

None were talking? Why wasn’t anyone saying anything? Was it because the monks were on the polar opposite sites in the team? Hirosame going in the front, leading them forwards whilst the dwarf Tobin guarded their backs? Anyways, she figured that she might try to start of a conversation with the other female in their group… They actually had a few things in common if you thought about it: Both were girls, healing classes, same race, around the same levels too, with only 4 that differed them appart. But what would they talk about? Back when she played the game at home, it was mostly roleplaying things that came to mind when talking to others. But they were in the game now, and things like that had probably changed. So she decided to firstly give the Cleric a good look and was surprised that something so trival had escaped her mind till now.
”So, uhm… Kittygrey. You have a quite well looking character there, or should I call it stylish instead maybe? Anyhow, did you base it from your own looks in the real world, or did you just let your imagination run wild?”

[Words: 768]

Tags: kittygrey, Hirosame, Tobin

[kittygrey]

Ame smiled to Hiro as he introduced himself. "I'm KittyGrey, you can call me Kitty if you'd prefer though. Everyone else does." She let out a small giggle and then nodded at Tobin's words. "Yes, I have been well, and it seems the iron dwarf of London has been as well." She smiled brightly and then stood after the boy pushed himself further into the Shaman's Tails. She smiled to her then and nodded at her words. "I'm sure he's probably just shy, and tired from his journey. I suppose it wouldn't be easy leaving your home and then having to venture back with a group of strangers." She looked at him once more and gave him a thumbs up, hoping to get a smile. "We'll get you there safe little man, so it's okay if you don't want to talk, but, you are safe with us, promise!" She smiled again, putting her hand down. She let out a soft giggle and looked to Inori. "Oh, please, no need for formalities, just call me Kitty, if you want to." She wasn't sure what to think of the Shaman Priestess, though she did seem nice, she seemed so formal and she really didn't think she needed to be, not with her at least. She nodded her head as she followed after Inori, with Hiro already leading the way. She smiled, looking back to Tobin, who had perched himself upon Gerald, the Iron Tusked Gerald. She waved to the creature, wondering if he knew that she was saying hello to him.

They walked on. It had been a quiet trip so far, but she enjoyed it. The night air was upon them and though it was a little chilly, she liked the cool breeze on her skin. She kept her eyes, and ears on the road ahead and beside them. She was sure that nothing would pop out from the side, though she was being careful, just in case. Though she was a cleric, she could also deal damage as well. She wondered if that was the reason that Inori needed body guards. Were they in danger? It had taken her a moment to realize that Inori had been speaking to her, but she was pondering about her role in all of this, though she was sure she would just be over thinking it, so instead, she looked to the Shaman Priestess. "Oh, well, thank you. I like your character as well." She paused for a moment, a little thrown back by her question, especially since she had been the first to ask about it, but she nodded. "Oh, yes, I did base my character after my real self. Both blondes, both blue eyes, pretty much the same, except for, I wear glasses and have long bangs that cover my face for the most part in R.L." She smiled with a small blush. She felt strange talking about herself, especially in this form. She wasn't nearly as confident as Kitty was, even though they were the same person. It was kind of strange for her to think about, even though she thought about it more often than not. "And what about yourself?"

Ame had made major improvements to her personality upon entering Elder Tale. Before, she was the time to sink away and watch as the world lived. She did enjoy cooking, which was why she had chosen the chefs crafting class, in her real life, but it was her personality that had changed dramatically. She was definitely and extrovert as Kitty. She had made a lot of new friends, Tobin being one of them, and loved to meet other adventurers. She thought about life an entirely different way than she had, and she had even promised herself that she would try to be more like her in game personality in her real life. She had made the promise to herself to cut her bangs, and try wearing more feminine clothing. She was used to wearing baggy track pants and t-shirts, or anything that covered her body. She had been hurt in her real life, but Elder Tale taught her that there was more to life than just staying at home, playing games and hiding herself from reality. She just didn't want to be that girl anymore, not after experiencing what it was like to be a confident, strong woman. She really just needed to focus on making friendships, and maintaining them with the ones that were worth it. For her, she would now think of life as a game, especially after living in an actual game, though she did love this land, and all she had met so far in it. She was in no rush, but she hoped one day she could return home and become her new self.

*Words: 800*
*Tags: Hirosame, Inori, Tobin*

[Hirosame]

Now that everybody had caught up, Hiro took the lead in a more dignified and leader-esque fashion. He looked ahead to the road with happiness and glee, wondering just what exactly was waiting for the five of them. kittygrey seemed nice enough, so much so that she introduced herself as Kitty instead of her full username. Tobin was also quite enjoyable of a monk, even though he was a bit shorter than Hiro. And even Inori, their Priestess, seemed to be quite enjoyable as well. Everybody looked rather eager to start this quest up, save for the grandson of the elder. He just looked like he wanted to get home, for sure. Maybe spending time with grandpa wasn't nearly as fun as the little guy wanted it to be. He chuckled a bit at the thought, but continued forward. Funny enough as it was, it was still not anything to get sidetracked over. What concerned him a bit was the fact that the dwarf had summoned a monster and started to ride on its back. Strange, yes, but nothing to really get concerned about in the long run.

What Tobin had said before was true, they did look as if they were out one of those Tales games. At that moment, a certain song appeared in his mind, which he couldn't help but whistle along to as they journeyed. A Human Monk, a Fox-Tail Priestess, a Fox-Tail Cleric, and a Dwarven Monk. All the while, they were escorting a grandchild of a village elder back to their home village. Yeah, this was definitely something out of a video game. But, who was he to complain? This would be awesome! Going to a place where he had never gone before, with a group of people he never met before. Al sorts of new and exciting things would probably be waiting for them as soon as they got to the forest! Which was still kind of a long ways off from here, but they would get there soon enough, for sure. They hadn't traveled very far from the hill, but he still looked back to make sure everybody was making their way nicely. As the leader of the pack, he needed to make sure that everybody was keeping up at a good pace. If not, he'd slow down a bit.

But, everybody was keeping up just fine, it seemed. Hiro was in front, with Inori and the Grandchild behind him, followed by Kitty, and trailing in the back was Tobin. A good enough spread, for sure, as there was just enough defensive and offensive coverage in the front as there was in the back. Thinking this, he continued on, whistling the song again. However, it seemed that all things were relatively quiet, and not much talking was going on. All they really had as noise was Hiro's whistling at this point, but not much else. He was about to start a conversation himself, when the girls had begun to converse. This should be enough of a silence breaker to last them a bit longer. However, he figured that their conversation wouldn't last very long, so he would need to interject with a few conversational pieces here and there. He had tried to talk with the kid at least once, but he was still probably still too far behind the Priestess' tails to respond properly. He just smiled and shrugged it off. The kid would speak when he felt it was necessary. And, obviously, now was not necessary.

Eventually, the day continued on into night, as the sun was beginning to set. Just as this was going on, the group had just about reached the forest. "Alright, we're about to enter the forest." Hiro said aloud, to everybody. "Make sure to stay close. I'll try and provide some sort of light, but try not to get separated. I'm guessing this path will lead us to the village, so let's get moving." Hiro pulled out a makeshift Mana Lantern that Midori had given him a while back, just in case of such situations. It lit up the path ahead enough for him to see at least 20 feet in front of them, with which he pressed on. About a half hour of walking through the darkening sky later, Hiro could see a few lights up ahead. He picked up his pace, before shouting, "C'mon, I can see something up here!" His pace hastened to a jog, and eventually into a run, until his eyes looked upon the village with which they would be helping out. Hiro slowed to a stop once they got there, and looked around, his mouth agape in awe. 

This town was... Oriental in origin? The houses looked as if they were directly from feudal Japan, and even the road leading up to the small shrine up on a small hill had a Shinto style archway just before the Japanese shrine. It was incredible! This kind of thing always fascinated Hiro as a child, and he wished to have been able to see just what kind of things were around in the earlier days of Japan. Having been born a Japanese citizen before being abandoned by his parents, he always wondered about the place that he should have called home. Granted, he might not have seen a place that looked quite like this, but it was still a beautiful sight to see. There were even Cherry Blossom trees around the other side of the village, and a few here and there within the perimeter. Hiro took a few more steps towards the center of the square, and he finally noticed the radiant light above the town, that bathed it in a glow much like the moon. Hiro turned off the lantern, and gazed up, in complete wonder. "Amazing..." He mumbled to himself. A tear formed in his eye, as he had always been one to appreciate the beauty of nature. But, this. This was something else.

He finally managed to advert his gaze from the glowing orb, and looked around the town. People were staring at him, wondering what an outsider like himself was doing here. Not only he, but the rest of their group. Hiro stumbled for a moment, thinking about what he was supposed to do, but only managed to straighten himself out, and bow to the people. "Hello, we're here on request of this village. We've come to help sort out whatever terrible thing has happened here." He stood back up, only to notice the people looking over towards Inori. Some started to walk over towards the Priestess, and began to bow at her feet. Shocked by such an outcome, Hiro tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. Maybe they revered her for something? Maybe it was one of their ancient texts that spoke of the coming of a Vixen Priestess to save them. He wasn't sure, but all he could gather from their mumbling was that the 'Fox Priestess has come to Moon Dance Village' and that the 'Moon Spirit,' which was probably the floating orb above the city, would be saved. Hiro returned to a normal stance, and just nodded. Perhaps this was what they were going to be here for. To save the Moon Spirit above the village.

[1213 Words]

(OOC: Sorry about the late post, my computer got stolen >.<; But, I have a new one now, so I'll try and post more frequently.))

[Tobin]

(OOC: 1.2k words? HA, I shall top that! Kidding. Got carried away.)

Word Count: 1367

"Aye, well 'nough, just been doin' huge brewery orders, right pain in the behind."

The responses was said with a smile, and after that he listened on, pausing only to chuck a £5 coin in the general direction of Hiro after failing his own bet. Well technically Hiro hadn't betted either, but by now the dwarf was rich so £5 wasn't going to break his mind. In any case the dwarf let his eyebrow raise, the chieftains son made a fair amount of sense, though how a boy had come to be down south eluded him. He briefly thought of interacting with the boy but as he tipped the wide hat back he saw the boy withdraw behind the priestess again. That drew only a slight shrug from the dwarf as he mounted the boar.

Thus far the strangers he had met were somewhat curious individuals. Hiro seemed relaxed, yet straightforward in a matter that reminded him very much of Kumori, though less overbaring and without stockhome syndrome protector issues of ‘his bird’, to put it in the local lingo. Inori on the other hand seemed rather reserved individual that seemed heavily immersed in her role, in such a way that put some landers to shame. That made it pretty difficult for him to judge, though so far she seemed like a nice lass to know..

-Kind of reminds me of me really. I wonder how long it takes for the glass to crack.-

The dwarf smiled and chuckled, fantastic! The Dwarf’s speciality!

The Iron Tusked Gerald, who had also picked the unimaginative name of Gerald, had in the meantime found the waving gesture of the blond foxtail most curious, the creature took a couple steps forwards and took a firm look at the fleshy waving implement with its dark orange/brown eyes. From this close up the trails of discoloured lines and scratches that marked its territorial battles were clearly visible, along with the stretches dotted along its mighty tusks. The expression was curious though, as briefly it flicked it's thick tongue to lap along the palm of the hand, an audible grunt followed, an action that caused the dwarf to sweat as he returned the wave and chuckled.

"He likes ya lassie. Gahahahah!"

"No food."

The dwarf sighed. Gerald wasn't the most imaginative fellow compared to Caer's pets.

SPOILER: Click to show

"Gerald, she isn't offering food, the lady is just waving to you."

The boar's eyes went blank.

SPOILER: Click to show

"But I see no water. How can one push water to me? Is it something these hands can do?"

The dwarf raised his eyebrow.

SPOILER: Click to show

SPOILER: Click to show

"No, no water, waving is a expression, it's a sign of affection, happy to see you."

"Wait, she's trying to affect me now with water that not here? What fool do you take me for?."

"No, no, she's not... She is just trying to say hello. Never heard of metaphors?"

"Is it an animal to hunt? Show me this metaphor and I will dominate it!"

"No, as I said countless times before it's a expression, pointless explaining since it seems to go over ya head anyways.”

"Nothing goes over my head, my reflexes are too good, I would catc-"

"Gerald! shhhh, there’s lawsuits for these kind of copy write infringements!, Fine, I explain, again."

---

And so the journey would continue, for a time the only interruptions were the light grunts and snorts that was exchanged between the Boar and Dwarf as the latter attempted (unsuccessfully) to explain metaphors, only to give up minutes later. Eventually a new wellspring of conversation had cropped up and the squat observed with a causal interest. The talk about Kitties’ undelaying decision of her willingness to be outgoing, both in dress and in attitude slightly surprised him as he tilted his hat back with a flickering of the brow.

-Kitty hadn’t always been that confident?-

It Sstruck a chord with the dwarf’s own persona that compelled him enough to interject, since being behind them he could listen while keeping watch. Though even then the commentary he gave was given with the usual, bold bravado.

"Hah, Seems a wee bit of a shame hiding a beautiful face lik’ tha’. Like hidin’ a rose in undar a bush, no? Gahahahah!” The Dwarf chuckled as his causal gaze flicked out left across the open field, though he kept both the priestess and cleric in the corner of his eye under the brimmed hat. Tobin imagined the comparison of the rose would be appropriate if she blushed for whatever reason. “Though I guess thure be two types of adventurer out thure, those tha’ wish ta hide, n’ others that wish ta find themselves.”

From there the dwarf fell silent once again, unless a statement or question was directed toward his way, or at least until Inori had spoken. Tobin had, despite his boisterous nature, had rarely shared anything with anyone with who he was before the Catastrophe. A curious enigma almost known for his racial choice and his boisterous attitude, that Dwarf charisma he projected with every sentence. Though the sense of mystery wasn’t entirely unwanted, after all Tobin Strider was a better name then Gavin Bexter, only one other person knew his true name and fewer still knew his second, or there would be murder on the dance floor.

-I know which of the two I am.-

A roll of the eyes and the shake of the head he brushed away that thought, as the light fast fading the dwarf recognised the wisdom in not getting too lost in his thoughts. After all, up till they arrived in the village, and beyond, he had a job to do. With that responsible thought in mind, the neck of his flask was corked as he knocked a drink of rich baileys back as his eyes scanned the horizon.

---

Soon the open heather fields gave way to trees dense once more, the gentle turning of his head every few seconds became habit. Like a gentle resting breath, the dwarf leant back into the cool presence behind him as the scenery drifted by. His eyes gradually glazed over as he scanned the forest, it was all too easy to be lost in a daydream, as the light faded and the greens and browns took a more monochrome hue by the light of the moon. Soon lights of green, orange and many more began to erupt from the quiet woodland, a dim enchanting glow of dragonflies, the mana lap and the under foliage offered a delightful contrast to the deep black. A quick glance forward reassured him that no one had gon-

-Wait-

The dwarf tensed and twirled, behind him was only the night flora, the dwarf felt a cold sweat dawn offer him, the familiar pounding in his ears sounded like it had shattered the night. For the first time tonight, however brief, Tobin felt the need to review his opinion on the paranormal.

-What in Christ’s name was that? Something, was behind me...-

As his eyes stained against the darkness however, he could see no sign of anything out of the ordinary, just the green flora of the night, and the slight rustling of its nocturnal relatives. The dwarf sighed and turned forward as he chuckled to himself.

“False alarm. Guess I’m evan startin’ ta feel ta spirit world ‘ere.”

Soon the darkness faded as a new light shimmered up ahead and as he arrived into the clearing even a cynical bastard like Tobin could appreciate, the oriental buildings shimmered with a unearthly hue under the soft sliver light that seemed to malt all colour, proving softer colour pallet that made the entire town seem otherworldly as though it was a projection from long ago, in a place, far, far away. The wide brimmed hat was tipped back as he stared up into the orb as he acknowledged Hiro’s comment with a slight nod, a slight cheeky grin tickled his lips as he finally found his tongue.

“I guess we found ta Eastur egg people.”

Cue canned laughter. Though after that he would tip his hat down as he allowed the Priestess and the Red-head talk to the Landers. It would likely be an intimidating sight to see a muscular Halfling riding what was effectively a small car.

[Inori]

Inori had honestly hoped for a slight different answer from Kittygrey. Ofcourse, she couldn’t expect everyone in the game to create a whole new look to play behind, but she’d like to have someone that she could relate to in that aspect. Inori was also a bit jealous of this fact, ”God really is not fair” she’d thought when the truth was revealed. Kittygrey seemed to have the curves where they were supposed to be, and she was tall too for that matter. Well… Her own character was taller at the moment, so it didn’t really matter unless they went back to their own world.
But she didn’t feel as good when Kittygrey returned the question back towards herself, greatly followed with the dwarfs magnificent comment of ”adventurers that try to hide themselves, or find themselves”. Inori had never really seen it in that perspective before, but she guess that was in the end what she really was doing. She hid her true appearance and personality, acting as someone entirely different altogether. Truly, what a coward would be doing.

”I’m afraid to say that all about me is entirely fake I guess.” She answered Kittygray with a gloomy fake smile. She took a quick look around, to see if the boy was still in her proximity. To her relief, he was still close to her tail. She’d just managed to get used of his touch and forgot that he’d been there altogether. She then turned back towards where Hirosame were leading them and spoke out to none in particular ”I guess I’m just one of those adventurers that wish to hide themselves huh?” loud enough for the dwarf to grasp what she’d said with a sullen expression.

She didn’t really say much for the rest of their journey towards this ”village” that she were supposed to help out. She was simply not in the mood anymore after have been revealed to we a coward from the looks of what the dwarf had implied. Or at least Inori had managed to indicate it that way, convinced herself of that being what he meant. So during the rest of the time, she pretended that she was busy inspecting the surroundings. Childish in a way actually…
But what’s feigned, can become truth in the end if you really get into it. She had never given any thoughts the wild enviroment since she entered this world. It was so much things to do here so it was quite easy for adventurers like herself to realise what beauty that actially lies in front of them. Unlike the world back home, filled with large structures and technology from various industrial factories, this world really showed what nature could manage to be if left alone. The contrast between narrow streets and spaces with some parks here and there, and the large fields that reached out as far as the next large hill or the forest they were closing in upon… The gap of comparison was outright frightening. ”Maybe it would be better for the world if it looked like this back at home?” Thou it was obviously not really possible to do that back there, considering the large popilation you’d have to satisfy with homes.

Time flew by them faster than Inori could have expected and it was already sundown. They’d been walking in the forest for a good while and only lightsource they had, was Hirosames mana lamps dim light. She didn’t really mind the darkness that the group found itself in though. She found it rather cozy actually. Hiro suddenly shouted of something sounding like their destination was close at hand. Whilst he started to heighten the pace though, she continued walking in her own tempo towards the warm orange light that was emitted further into the forest. She wasn’t really a fan of running you see. And that didn’t just apply to the persona that she tried to act off…

A pleasant surprise awaited her once she actually arrived at the village entrance. The village was clearly in the style of a feudal Japanese village. Bright yellow paper lanterns illuminated the dirt streets and a long row red torii gates followed a road in the middle of the village and led to a big Shinto shrine.
She’d once seen a village like this back at home when she visited the old village Tsumago in Kiso Valley.
It was certainly a nice feeling to spot some of your own culture here, unlike all of the english things she'd already seen. She felt a bit more ar home here but, the old culture will always be a part of old Japan, she'd nerver truly feel at home here either. Only the shrines back at home in Tokyo was still keeping this old design from the Edo period... Or older.

Until now, Inori hadn't taken the slightest of notice on the numerous approaching townsfolk. There was no blaming her, for the greatly startled reaction that she gave of from it. She almost jumped of the ground when they started bowing before her, as if she was some kind of deity, meeting her loyal followers personaly. But they were not her followers... And she was much less a deity and Inori wanted nothing but to run away from where she stood and from all this attention. But all of the escape routes around her, had been blocked by the very same people that she wanted to get away from. Murmering about the priestess coming to save them spread around like a wildfire and the endless noice invaded her poor fox ears from all directions. She started wondering of how long she could continue her act as the calm, graceful miko until she would crack down and return to her normal, meek, shy and afraid attitude. Because honestly, she felt like crawling down a hole and forget all of this st the moment.

She was quick to take action, before it would be too late. Inori crouched before one of the bowing young maidens, carefully took her chin between her pale thumb and index finger, and slowly raised her face to meet Inoris gaze. The girl looked confused and Inori gave her a reassuring smile which indicted that nothing was wrong to calm her down. "Could miss please be kind to show me the way to the village elder? I'd like him to run me down on our situation here and I got his grandson here with me." The little boy finaly peeked out of her two tails, realising where he was, he jumped into the confused embrace of the maiden. "I'd be really grateful if you did." Inori then added. "Y-yeah! O-ofcourse miko-sama! I'll lead you to the village elder!" Her speech was as rash as the speed she went from the bowing position, to standing stiffly upright formaly in front of her. She almost stumbeled on her way up, and Inori prepared to catch her if needed be. But it seemed that she'd manage herself just fine, turned around and shouted "Make way for the miko-sama! Make way for the miko-sama!". People flew up from their bowings and ran around the street like giddy chickens in a farmyard. It was embarassing in all ways possible to be escorted in this way. It wasn't enough to just call her "miko-sama" either it would seem. Because whilst she walked away from the village entrance... She could hear vague voices reciting "The Miko-sama escorted our village chef grandboy back! Praise her kindness, praise her devotion, and praise the Miko-sama!!!" back in the distance... She tried to ignore it, but for naught...

Inori honestly expected the village elders home to be something of extraordinary, something that caught the eye and to be remembered for it's palace-like beauty. I mean, the village itself had already been jawdropping by itself. Was it really too much to expected from the apparent greatest person in this village? Well... It certainly caught the eye. In a way... She'd never seen such a ruckus of a living place than on one of of those extreme case African living documentaries... She thought that she saw the house actually wobble a little. She was surprised that it hadn't collapsed into itself yet and she was unsure if it was even safe to go inside. "I know what you're thinking Miko-sama. Grandpa has insisted on refraining the renevation untiln he's gone from us. Some tradition of sorts. No big surprise that the wood end up this way in the end." Inori faced the teen girl, so this was their grandpas doing?... "Wait..." She's a grandchild of the chief elder too?! What was the odds of Inori choosig her out from all of those people? Guess that too explains why the boy tolerated her, his sister, to that extent. Maybe she was a bit divine after all. The girl then obviously realised something and franticaly got down into a bowing position once more and... "I'm sorry Miko-sama!! I shouldn't have spoken out to you in such a informal fashion! My apologies if I've managed to disrespect you with my rambelings and don't take them to heart. I went too far to expected myself of figuring out what the Miko-sama had in mind! I beg of thee, don't change your mind on helping us out! Please!" Inori was baffeled to hear these words out of the girls mouth. Was she serious? How much were these people expecting of her? She wasn't even that great of a priestess in the first place!
Inori helped the girl up on her feet once more, the poor girl was tear eyed already. Was she that worried?
"Don't you worry little maiden." She said as she wiped away a tear from the teens right eye with a finger. "I wont be upset over something small and fickle as that. It was actually truth that I had the buildings current satte in mind too for that matter. So please, don't cry." Her voice was gentle and forgiving. Thankfully the girl seemed to calm down by these words. "Ohh~ thank you Miko-sama." She said with a beaming smile, rivaling the sub itself perhaps... Inori was pleased by her recovery, but the girls embarassed blush and seductive tone in the end had her worried. Had this girl fallen for her priestess persona? "Come Miko-sama! Grandpa-... I mean the elder chef is waiting shortly ahead!" The girl suddenly embraced Inoris left arm, humming for herself as she energetically urged Inori forwards in her own tempo. "I need to get this mission done, get out of here and never come back again." Inori thought as she was sweeped away by the maiden.

[Words: 1780]

Tags: kittygrey, Hirosame, Tobin

[kittygrey]

Ame continued to walk, turning her head slightly to Tobin as he spoke. She felt her cheeks take on their normal flush when someone complimented her. "oh, uhm, I suppose so." She smiled to him and then listened to his next words. She let them sit in her head for a moment, wondering which she was. Was she hiding her ture self? No, she wasn't, in fact she decided that she was one trying to find herself. Lavinia, one of the people she had met when she first arrived here, had told her something that stuck in her head, but she let the thought alone for now to look at Inori. She shook her head to her, feeling bad that she thought she was completely fake. "I think who we choose as a character, and as a personality holds a bit of us in it. I don't think you are trying to hide yourself. I think everyone is their character in some way, whether it be their true selves, or whether they are playing who they want to be." She paused for a moment and then nodded, as if answering her own mental question. "I think that the confidence I have gained here is my true confidence, where as, in the other world, I'm trying always trying to hide." She felt her head snake back towards Tobin and she smiled at him again. "I made a promise to myself that when I am sent back there, I would cut my bangs, and try my best to be who I really am, the confident female you see before you." She winked and then let a laugh escape her lips. She turned her head again, and then heard Hiro call out to them.

She watched as he ran forward, and she too picked up her feet, racing forward. As he stopped, she felt herself plant her feet as well, looking onto the hidden village among the trees. Her eyes widened, and instantly she felt comforted. Her heart beat as her eyes stretched through the village. It was quiet and quaint and made her heart pang with longing. The beauty of it reminded her of her home in Kyoto, where they still lived as these people did. She let out a sigh, looking up to the bright light shining above the village. "Beautiful." Her heart pounded against her chest, and for the first time in a long while, she wished she could see her own home again, see her family again. She had gotten so used to being in the world of Elder Tale, that she had almost forgotten that it was some sort of different dimension, some sort of different world. Looking at this place, however, made memories of her edo period styled home flow through her mind, and she got a flash of her families faces. She wondered if they knew she was gone. She wondered about what was happening in that other world. She took a deep breath in and then her thoughts escaped her as the villagers came to greet the travellers, bowing at Inori's feet. She looked down at them with a tilted head. She looked back at Tobin as he spoke, wondering what he had meant, but she let the thought escape her as Inori bent down to speak to a young woman.

She looked around at the others as the boy dove into the girl's arms. Did he know her? She watched as they rose, and Inori began to walk forward, being led by them. She decided that she would follow, hopefully the others would do so as well. She looked down the line at all of the other villagers, chanting of Miko- sama, calling out to praise her. She looked to Inori's back with a smile. Well, the villagers seemed to take to her well, she seemed like a nice person, one who Ame wouldn't mind getting to know a little more, perhaps they would even consider each other as friends soon, but for now, this was her quest and she would guard her with every last ounce of her strength, knowing the others would as well. She wasn't sure her exact motive, being here, but she knew that she had been sent on this mission for a reason. What would her healing have to do with anything here, they had yet to find out the problems of the village as well. She wondered, what was going on. Her questions would hopefully be answered upon the arrival to the chief's home and soon, they arrived there.

She looked up at the scene before her, her head tilting slightly in confusion. It was a complete dump, so much so that she actually wanted to scoff at it, but she held back. She had a slight O.C.D when it came to clean places and this place made her want to shiver at the sight. She wondered why the upkeep on it was so horrible, but soon, the young maiden spoke. 'So, the elder chief will wait until he passed to have the place cleaned up? He would leave this run down place to his successor to rebuild?' The thought made her feel queasy, but as the maiden spoke of tradition, she felt herself shrug. She would hate to be the successor of this place, knowing that she would have the responsibility to clean it afterwards. But then her eyes widened at the conversation between Inori and the maiden. So, the boy had reacted to his sister? Well, that was a turn of events for her. Inori seemed to be a divine goddess in all actuality. How had she picked the elder chiefs grand daughter, leading the boy to her. She shook her confused thoughts and passed them off. Suddenly, the maiden grabbed hold of Inori's arm, and ran off with her. Ame froze, wondering what the rush was, but she picked up her feet and chased after them. For all she knew, Inori could be in danger of some cult voodoo and they were trying to release her of her guards for some sacrificial tribute or something. That wouldn't happen, not on her watch.

*Words: 1029*
*Tags: Hirosame, Tobin, Inori*
*Notes: Yup, I'm not even going to attempt 2000 words, so, I'm breaking this chain before it gets out of hand, deal with it XD <3 But know.. I could if I wanted too!*

[Hirosame]

Hiro watched for a few moments as the villagers gathered around the Priestess, wondering if they had been expecting her or something. They probably had, since there might have been a prophecy explaining that a fox-tailed girl would come to the village to save them, or something. He didn't know himself, but he wasn't that far into the politics of things to be able to tell for sure. Hell, he wasn't far enough into even religion to be able to tell for sure. But, hey, if the people were happy, and Inori was sure that she could help, then he wasn't going to bother with it any more than he was already. So, soon enough, the fox-tails were lead away from the monks, and Hiro wondered if he and Tobin should follow Inori and kittygrey. It would be good to have some kind of knowledge as to what's going on with these people, though, so maybe taking a little walk around the town would be better off. Besides, if the girls were together, Hiro didn't have to worry about their well being. The villagers would most likely take good care of them.

Hiro turned to face the dwarf, and asked. "Since the ladies should be fine with the villagers," Hiro began. "I'm gonna take a little walk around town." Perhaps the dwarf would be into the idea, but it was mostly a point that they should do something productive as well. "You're free to come with, if you'd like." After extending the offer, Hiro began to walk around the town, seeing the things that there were to see. First off, he'd go up to the shrine, to see what else was there. The pathway up to the shrine, though, felt like it was going to take forever, just to get up it. There were stairs leading all the way up, at least a 200 meter trek up the side of the hill. Hiro braced himself for the climb, and spoke aloud, in case Tobin was nearby as well. "Might as well start up here. Time to get a move on." Hiro began up the steps, and immediately regretted doing such a thing. The stairs were old, creaky, and looked like they were going to collapse under him at any time. Despite this, though, he pressed on, making his way up.

After a couple of minutes of stair-climbing, he reached the top, and looked over at the village. Above it was the Moon Spirit, and it was just as big as one would expect it to be. He gazed at it for a few moments, before feeling a soft brush of wind, coming from behind him. He turned around, to see Sakura petals scattering all over the place, around the shrine. He walked into the building, and immediately started to cough. Man, this place was dusty! Hiro waved a hand in front of his face to dismiss the immediate dust that flew into his face, before continuing in. "Hello?" He asked aloud. "Anybody here?" Without a response, Hiro figured that it might actually be deserted for the night. Some people don't always stay at the shrine, probably, and it was, in fact, night time. So, it would serve to reason that the shrine would be empty. "Guess nobody's here." He said for the dwarf, should he also be up here. This was what he thought, though, until a ladle came flying from a different room, and collided soundly with his forehead.

If anybody's ever seen an anime where a character has had something thrown at their head, this is basically the reaction they'd see. As the metal piece of equipment crashed firmly into his head, Hiro was knocked back, and an expression of surprise on his face. He fell flat on his back, only to lay there for a few more seconds. Rubbing his forehead, he sat back up, only to see an elderly woman standing there, holding a pot. "WHO ARE YOU!?" The woman shouted. "ARE YOU THOSE DAMN GIRL SCOUTS AGAIN!?" After taking a second to mentally realize what the hell actually just happened, he looked at the woman's face. She wasn't looking at them, and her eyes were grey. She must actually be blind. "No, there's no girl scouts here." Hiro said, calmly. He stood up, and the woman lowered her kitchen utensil. "My name's Hirosame, and I'm here with a few others who have journeyed to this village, upon the request of the elder." He figured explaining things simply enough would warrant a conversation. Hopefully, it would also ward off future ladles.

The woman lowered her guard completely, and her speech pattern changed as well. "Oh... Well, why didn't you just say so?" The woman said, turning around to head back where she was before. "I'm Elder Yamamoto. Please, make yourself at home, young monk." Hiro bowed to her, felt stupid for bowing to a blind person, and figured something was off. How did she know he was a monk if she can't see? The elder turned around, with a kind smile, as if she knew beforehand what he was just thinking. Hiro felt a chill down his spine, as the woman shuffled into the other room once again. He turned around to see a giant Sakura Tree, its petals rolling around the room. Hiro stared in amazement at the giant tree, wondering what this magnificent tree was, only to be answered from another room "That's the Sakura Spirit, young'un." Elder Yamamoto said. "Along with the Moon Spirit, this shrine is dedicated to them, for their protection." Without even having turned around, Hiro nodded. So there's two spirits here...

[942 Words]

[Tobin]

(OOC: Ended up longer then expected. Maysprout and kittygrey will be mostly interested in part one, Hirosame will be interested in the last few paragraphs.

I didn't have much to work on so I wrote a little encounter of marial art wonderfulness, I just wanted to write an awesome scene. hopefully it isn't too hammy for you all. xd)

Word Count: 1900

Perhaps not surprisingly, the dwarf's forward comments had had a mixed response on the two ladies. Kitty had responded with the entire bubbly demeanour that he had found refreshing in an adventurer but Inori's social stance seemed to stiffen up and responded quite negatively to his jest, and her chosen sentences had made that clear enough. Tobin rolled his head back as he sighed and, utterly by impulse began to chuckle before he caught himself.

“Inori, tis up ta ya how ya interpret wha’ I say. But I rather be honest than mince mah words, priestess. Ya probable find that understandin’ wha’ ya lack is ta first step in fixin’ tha’ problem. Onleh ya can help ya self, I know tha’ fa a fact. Liverpool ta city of chains isn’t a place ya be soft in.”

With that the dwarf fell silent. Actually, he felt a tang of regret in saying all that considering he had given away his real life address.

-Ahhh well, how much EXP do I get for killin' that conversation?-

His gaze flickered off as for the moment he slipped back into thought. Laughter was one of the things that had started off artificial gimmick but had become part of his being over time, after all back in the real world he had been different to everyone else. It took immense mental resolve to keep his condiction of madness under wraps, since people would find many of the things he did on impulse here unsettling in the real world.

As a result keeping his volatile emotions under control, he had become a quiet, uncompromising fellow with no-nonsense approach to life that had isolated him when he had been to university and in work, like many in life he had been swept along in the rush from cradle to grave. In reflection, expectations and fear of how others thought of his disorder placed immense pressure placed on his shoulders, to the extent that he made acquaintances rather than friends. The more he thought about it the more it made sense, what had started as an artificial performance to make him likeable had become more of a journey of self. Perhaps he out of everyone here had been the least honest with himself in the real world, yet had the least reason to be.

Tobin hadn't been aware of precisely when Kitty had started speaking, though the Dwarf had found himself nodding in agreement to the bubbly lass. Though she had been tricked by him on one occasion into revealing her real name and twice into having her ears ruffled, she had a good head on her shoulders.

"Aye, ar' at least find somethin' ya fine bein', then ya can’t go too far wrong, I look forward ta see ya real life transformation," Dwarf once again began to project that bold as brass figure that Kitty was likely more familiar with as he gave her a wink, before turned to Inori. "Ya should take a few noted from her priestess, aftar all, tis second life is an oppertunity fa us all.”

-Well, assuming we ever make it back there. Or even want to go back there.-

 No one liked a party pooper after all.

---

After the intial celibrations had patched up, the dwarf lingered briefly as he answered questions on adventurers. Likely this party was the first that most had ever seen, and as he was in the middle of enlightening them in their role in driving off the mobs, a manly voice cut through the crowd, sharp as glass.

“Poppycock.”

A eyebrow flickered up from the stocky fellow, though the identity of the voice became clear as a male foxtail of at least 20 season cycles strolled out of the crowd, brushing off a fellow foxtail as he pushed through the crowd. Even under the flowing moon blue disciple’s outfit, it was apparent that the fox tail was a well-toned monk of level 19. In the gathered crowd lay several monks, though few were quite as strong as this fellow and most were not as bold to call a guest a liar. His hair was a pale blue, so under the moon orb it almost appeared a ghostly white. He wasn’t very tall, but he imagined this guy would be an aerial monk, as the whites and blue fabric would make it difficult to pinpoint his limbs in this light.

“Pardon?”

“You heard what I said. We have defended these lands for more seasons then you have hair’s on your body, I believe your status and level to be nothing more than trickery to deceive honest folk. If your kind is so impressive, then prove it, squat.”

The dwarf did smile at this, though the light of his eyes gleamed with a slight indignfication, at this point much of the crowd had fallen silent, though chatters of excitement echoed through the crowd. Though it was unlikely that anything bad would befall the dwarf if he chose not to, the people wouldn’t allow it, he chose to bite the bait anyways. A little martial arts demonstration was at hand and the dwarf had just the ticket on how to do it quickly.

“Ohohoh, I see ya mastur as not taught ya manners; I’ll show ya ta arts down un’er, one blow, one inch of punch will be enough tat know ya senseless."

With a chuckle the dwarf strapped on the knuckle duster onto his right fist as the crowd gathered around he and the brown haired monk, the lander opened his mouth to object though the dwarf already had the answer to that. He had always found it curious that the laws of this world behaved in regards to equipment, but this enabled him to restrain his strength to level 20, though he was arguably closer to a 30, his strength stat was just that high, though he would be using his left for this punch

"Don't misunderstand, ta duster is actualleh restrainin' mah power. Dun't wanna be killin' ya by accident." Again he rumbled as he brought his hands together in a loud clap, to Tobin it was all a game, a gesture that drew a frown from the young foxtail. " Come atta me when ya readeh. Or ya makin’ me come ta ya?"

"You need to be reacquainted with the dirt, dwarf, my martial arts has been refined over 500 years."

A silence followed from all parties, only a causal shrug from the Dwarf showed life in the ring as he turned offer his right side to his foe, extending his left fist across his chest to point across at the Monk. His opponent on the other hand took an open palm stance that was traditional to karate. Yet, rather than stand still and wait the dwarf started to walk up causally, fist still raised directed up toward the face as he radiated a quiet self-confidence. Then, as he reached a third of the distance between them he pulled a metal flask and twisted the stopper off with his teeth, his causal, lazy blue gaze never left the fox tails eyes as he saw the anger bubbling under the surface.

Then suddenly it happened the monk sprang up into the air with a shout and dived down with a kick, the dwarf paused momentarily as his body twisted to offer up his right side to the upcoming attack. It was then that three changes occurred in rapid succession, his eyes snapped wide and flickered with a purple sparkle, the middle finger of his fist protruded to bring the blunt instrument into the shape of a rough diamond. Lastly, for the briefest of seconds, the dwarf took a blindingly fast diangonal step to the right to pass by the leg, then, as the monk's face was one inch from the fist the blunt implement flickered into a blur of lightning that delivered a single firm blow, accompanied by a loud crack. The figure’s head momentarily disappeared as his head was jerked back and he summersaulted past as if he were struck by a car, twisting in the air once, twice before the monk crumpled to the floor in a loud crash and a flurry of dust, motionless aside from the twitching leg. A loud cheer went up, though some of the crowd ran over to the downed fellow that was bleeding from the upper lip.

The -counter punch- had been flung at one quarter of a second so it was unlikely that of the cheering crowd saw anything of detail but the crushing blow. Not the bloodied middle finger that had taken the brunt of the exchange that now was concealed within the pocket, nor the blow that was struck at the weak point between the lip and nose. Just the fact that the dwarf had done the impossible and lain low a Lander monk in a single blow, despite the target being otherwise healthy at 88%, as if his mind had been switched off. The muscle wizard wasn't one to explain his smoke and mirrors however, a causal swig and a hearty chuckle being the closest the cheering crowd would receive to an answer. Perhaps if any onlookers were unaware before now knew that despite his demeanour, Tobin Strider was a Dwarf of unbridled power and a fellow not to be trifled with lightly. An individual that only came in short supply.

"I call tat the one inch punch-" He chuckled as he glanced back at the twitching fellow, surprisingly enough he didn't seem alarmed at his state. Though his health bar had only suffered a 12% hit from that blow, the fellow was completely out of commission though already he was starting to recover from the blow. "Dun't cha be worryin', he will be up in just undar a minute. Just a tad shaken and stirred, his momentum of the kick did 'alf ta work for me. Still, he were a brav' fella, I would lik' ta talk ta him latar when he's sobured up. In the meantime, hav' some fa mah wares on me! I’ll be tradin’ latur if ya want more."

-If he gets up again, I'll giveh him another five inches-

The dwarf fellow chuckled as he drew barrel of fine whisky from out of his inventory and left it as a gift to be shared out as he once again doned the straw had and followed up after Hiro. Giving a thumbs up and a wink from any of the adventurers, he had done his part in reassuring the village of an adventurers worth and given them the taste for good liquor at the same time! In any case he would soon catch up with Hiro in the shire, though perhaps he had chosen the wrong time to catch up as he watched him being lain down with a ladle, the dwarf gave a heartily chuckle, before he introduced himself.

“Mah greetings eldar, I Tobin Strider have also travelled ‘ere on the request of ta village chief, ya priest is ‘ere. Somewhere. In any case, I didn’t mean ta be an inconvenience.“

With that he wandered through to the great Shakura tree and let a silent appreciation take him over. The multed light resided here seemed to give the tree the same ghostly appearance at this time of night, Quite breath-taking from his perspective.

“I might nut be a folk fa spirit’s, but tis sure is a beauty.”