Cold Wind Blows [Open]

[Estreia]

Deep within the Windsor Greatwood, a chill wind was winding it's way through the trees, causing leaves to fall and branches to creak and sway. Animals gathering their winter pelts didn't even shudder as the frosty air caressed their fur. To them, this was just a natural occurrence; winter was coming. They were doing their best to prepare, gathering food, eating for hibernation. They weren't strangers here. This was another part of their lives in a world that they'd supposedly known all their lives.

This was quite different for others. The new arrivals here. The strangers to a world that was far more different than they'd ever expected. The so-called Adventurers, demi-gods to these strange creatures and people that called Elder Tale their home. Insane demi-gods, at that; even a month in tales were still told of PKers, brigands, kidnappers, and thieves that wandered about the world hunting for easy prey. Most people, especially new Adventurers, wouldn't come out here by themselves for fear that someone was going to hustle them.

There was one person who wasn't perturbed by this, however. In a small clearing surrounded by bare trees, Estreia Belladonna the Monk sat on a small boulder, legs crossed and eyes closed. Meditation had been one of her favorite pastimes back home. The feeling of calming down and releasing all thought for even a short period of time was one she'd desperately needed at the time. Here, though, it was just a habit, much like her gymnastics. A holdover from a different time and place. At least at times like this she felt less like an alien here.

At least, until the cold wind finally struck and embraced her, entwining her bare biceps, thighs, and stomach. An errant shudder forced her eyes open as she glared at the woods around her. How annoying. It was like she was suddenly being told she didn't belong here. 'Get on back to your cities,' it seemed to say. 'You aren't welcome here in this world'. In defiance, she allowed her eyes to close again, but the wind blew insistently. She finally stood with an irritated growl.

"And monks are supposed to do this in freezing waterfalls? How moronic. There's no bloody point for this." Just then, she caught sight of one of the forest's beasts. A... Frenmic Rabbit? With thick, deep brown fur, rustling about in the underbrush, probably hunting for a meal. Suddenly, Estreia had a very good reason for being here.

"I always wanted a fur coat..." She smirked. Slowly, a throwing needle was drawn from her belt, and she began to take aim...

*Word Count 443*
Tags: Izo

[Izo]

The cold air wrapped around Izo as he walked through the Windsor Greatwood. In his right hand was his shield and in his left, a bottle of ale. He was unfamiliar with most of the zones in Elder Tale and so he decided to take the day and explore unfamiliar zones. He raised the glass to his lips and took a drink, smiling as his body felt warm thanks to the alcohol. Izo noticed the wildlife around him, rabbits, birds and other small critters eating grass at the base of trees or running from his presence.

Izo stumbled through a hedge, falling onto his face and in between a mysterious woman and a Frenmic Rabbit. The rabbit turned tail and ran, Izo letting out a sigh as he pulled himself to his feel. He looked at the now empty bottle, frowning. He sighed and put the bottle back in his bag before looking over at the mysterious woman. "Ah...my apologies mad'am. I didn't mean to interrupt your hunting." He looked her over, his fiery blond hair blowing with the wind as it began to pick up.

Word Count:186

[Estreia]

In one instant, Estreia had her throwing needle in hand and a target perfectly situated before her. A nice plump Frenmic Rabbit with dark brown fur that would've been one of a few she would've needed to make a nice cloak. She would've even had something for dinner afterwards. Even in the chill, Estreia could almost feel the soft warmth of a cloak and a full belly. Her anticipation mounted, and she was just about to release her deadly projectile...

Next instant, the rabbit has fled, and there's a blond armored figure with his nose in the dirt where it had once been. As he got up and glanced down sadly at his now-empty bottle, Estreia only gave one long, incredulous blink. She remained frozen. This sort of situation might've made for some sort of strange fantastic romantic comedy, with the knight suddenly arriving in front of the lady fair.

"Ah...my apologies mad'am. I didn't mean to interrupt your hunting."

That broke the spell. Her brows knit together alarmingly. Estreia slipped the projectile back into it's pouch as she approached, graceful as a dancer. With a fist clenched, she reached up... And poked the stranger fiercely in the chest several times as she spoke in tones as chilly as the wind that tousled Izo's hair. Comedic indeed, this girl was tiny, yet acted as if she was ten feet tall.

"But of course!" Poke. "Here we have a fool." Poke. "A drunken, besotted fool, at that." Poke! "That just had to make sure I wouldn't be staying warm tonight, hm? Why are you wandering around the forest with the local swill? This place is dangerous, idiot. You're lucky I'm not some form of bandit or murderer. What are you going to do about my warm fur cloak? My food? Hmm? With you drunkenly tromping about, I wouldn't be surprised if the entirety of London wasn't made aware of our presence!" POKE.

Yeah, she appears to be pretty annoyed. Eventually, she falls silent, if only to level a frosty glare and raised eyebrow at the man, waiting for him to speak again.

*Word Count 372, total 813*
Tags: Izo

[Izo]

"But of course!" "Here we have a fool." "A drunken, besotted fool, at that." "That just had to make sure I wouldn't be staying warm tonight, hm? Why are you wandering around the forest with the local swill? This place is dangerous, idiot. You're lucky I'm not some form of bandit or murderer. What are you going to do about my warm fur cloak? My food? Hmm? With you drunkenly tromping abou...." Izo chuckled as the woman poked him in the chest, ranting on about how he had interrupted her kill. Looking around, Izo was only half listening to her his senses focused on something else. Listening harder, Izo's wolf ears popped out from under his thick blond hair. Something had been keeping him on edge for part of his journey which is why he had the alcohol in the first place. He turned around, his eyes scanning the trees. He had heard a rumor of an assassin PKer that was hunting players down in the area, and with his prior experience as a PKK, he wasn't going to let himself get ambushed. "Did you hear something?" Izo whispered to the female monk, his hand reaching down for his sword.

He placed himself between the sound he was hearing and the monk, his shield raised as he quickly drew his sword. Even though he was Level 1, he was experienced at tanking in other games. He moved with the sound, circling the monk, his back almost touched her as he scanned the area. Even though he was intoxicated, he knew what he was hearing. It sounded like running, and it was coming right at the two of them. "I don't know what's coming. But it's quick. Be on your guard!" Izo looked back at the monk, nodding as he turned back to the noise.

Word Count: 304

[Estreia]

The look of annoyance reaches a new pitch as Estreia comes to realize the Wolf Hair swordsman wasn't even paying any attention to her. For an instant, she contemplates grabbing one of those stupid ears and turning it to face her so she could speak directly into it--after all, with her own elf ears, she knew just how sensitive they could be. She was just about to enact her plan--but then her own ears barely picked up the sound of rustling. The stranger's words only confirm her suspicions. Her expression goes from livid to cold indifference in a heartbeat. The swordsman swung around her and placed his back against hers as she grumpily cracked her neck and knuckles.

"So first you scare away my cloak, then you bring a murderer towards us. I believe the Americans have an expression for this, 'hero'. You're batting a thousand. Stay here and distract them--I will bring the sneak attack." She hissed quietly over her shoulder. Well, if this was going to be the case...

Suddenly the elf springs into action, running towards the trees. Instead of just leaving the Guardian alone, however, the elf runs three steps up the tree and manages to catch hold of a lower branch. "At least the gymnastics are good for something," she grunts as she hauls herself up, further into the foliage. There wasn't much cover, but unless someone was looking closely they'd have a hard time spotting her. In the meantime, she had two Monk skills that directly benefited from an aerial attack. Additionally, this gave her a better vantage point, allowing her to at least try and spot the source of the disturbance.

With her eyes peeled, she once again carefully removed the throwing needle from her pouch, twirling it restlessly between her fingers as she waited for the upcoming attack.

*Word Count 314, Total 1127*
Tags: Izo

[Izo]

"...I believe the Americans have an expression for this, 'hero'. You're batting a thousand. Stay here and distract them--I will bring the sneak attack." Izo nodded as the monk started to run towards her tree. His sword hand quickly flew through the menu, barely sending the party invitation before she broke line of sight in the trees. He wouldn't want to use Anchor Howl and accidentally kill an innocent by-standard. The hedges started to rustle as two masked figured erupted from the bushes, weapons drawn. Izo's suspicions were confirmed as one was an assassin but the other was a swashbuckler. 'We'll need to focus on the assassin first. All it would take is a lucky hit.' Izo thought to himself as the swashbucklers blades met his shield.

Izo had already braced for the attack, so shrugging it to the side was no problem. Izo quickly turned to the assassin, being very careful to keep the Swashbuckler in his field of vision. Izo began moving in a circle around the two assailants, his shield catching the vast majority of the attacks. Izo lashed out with his sword after pushing the assassin off balance, scoring a fine hit against his opponent.

As the three seemed to dance, the assassin began to make a break for the trees right near the monk. 'Coincidence or not, that's not gonna happen!' Izo clenched his teeth as he thrush his sword into the sky. "ANCHOR HOOOOOOOWWWLLL!!!!!" Izo roared mightily as violent pulses of energy began to blast out from him. The swashbuckler froze in place, his eyes wide as he saw his assassin companion start to slow in movement. The assassin didn't stop however, which led Izo to bear a twisted grin. He obviously didn't know the second half to Anchor Howl, the powerful counter attack that would trigger if you ran more than 5 meters of the caster. Izo's body reacted instantly, his eyes red as the skill took over. He quickly swung his sword in a downward arch, catching the assassin in the back. It wasn't a killing blow, but it put a pretty big dent in his Hit Points.

Word Count: 357

[Estreia]

Estreia almost swore out loud when the tension was disrupted by the happy little 'ping' of a party invitation. Thankfully there wasn't any way for anyone else to hear or see or agreeing to the invitation, but damn it, she nearly fell out of the tree. Finally, however, she settles again, glaring silently around the clearing to find out just who was responsible for all of this stupidity. Thankfully she's given a moment; she takes it to try and stretch out her muscles as best as she can. She's not warmed up, and this is probably going to really hurt when they're done, but she'll cross that bridge when they get to it.

Finally the source of the disturbance is revealed. The Assassin and Swashbuckler come charging out from the underbrush, blades bared and ready to strike. As Estreia predicted, their eyes immediately went to the Guardian, standing in the clearing with sword and shield drawn. The Swashbuckler charged, swiping blades at the knight, whereas the Assassin appeared to know that something else was up. Not that it meant much; Anchor Howl was engaged. The Assassin was dumb enough to try and run past him and got cut for his troubles.

Now was the time for Estreia to join the melee. Without missing a beat, the elf flexes her powerful legs and sends herself skyward, using her Acrobat subclass to gain additional height. "Wyvern Kick!" She hissed--and suddenly she was falling down again, tumbling gracefully through the air like it was one of her performances. When she was low enough, her right leg rockets out in a vicious axe kick, slamming her heel into the Assassin's collarbone on his sword-hand side. While she's apparently hoping to break his collarbone, she doesn't have time to tell if it really succeeded in it's task. Instead, she uses the impact of her strike to send her aloft again--this time getting ready to zero in on the Assassin's companion.

*Word Count 329, Total 1556*
Tags: Izo

[Izo]

Izo moved backward as the Swashbuckler slashed out at him, his eyes looking over at his HP bar. He was a little over half, but each hit stung, putting him closer to death. He had heard that dying in the game carried no actual death, but he still wasn't feeling up to dying today. He swung his shield at the man, hitting him but dealing no damage with the hit. Izo chuckled as the man seemed to be stunned, as he was not expecting of the blow.  Izo looked at the Assassin, ready to swing his sword when his companion joined the fight, pouncing back into the air as Izo smiled.

It was nice to have run into her when he did, without her, he would be in a tight spot. He turned back to the Swashbuckler, chuckling as Resilience returned him a small portion of his HP. It was nice to regenerate HP in combat, even if it was only a little bit. The Swashbuckler had looked over at his partner, his hands trembling as the nerves started to break. "What's the matter? Can't take the heat?" Izo taunted, slamming the butt of his weapon against his shield. This caused the man to jump, his attention snapping back to Izo. Izo knew that the man would run if the assassin went down, so he would have to make sure that happened. He turned to the assassin and looked over at his cooldowns. Only a few more seconds until he could recast Anchor Howl.



Word Count: 254

[Estreia]

With the Swashbuckler's attention brought back to the Guardian, Estreia found herself in the clear again. Unfortunately, she overestimated the force which she'd sent herself skyward again after hitting the Assassin; after all, she hasn't had much practice in combat yet. Furthermore, no normal human could jump as high as she could with Acrobat, at least not without some form of outside assistance. So, while her initial skyward leap is graceful, it quickly turns into a mistake as she finds herself falling into another tree. Unable to catch herself, a chorus of "OW!" and "OOF!" explodes from her as she smacks into branches on her way down, until she manages to catch a hold on a lower branch, gritting her teeth as she feels welts and bruises rising across her body.

With a groan, she releases her hold and lands on the floor shakily, watching her HP bar drop a full quarter after her graceful little stunt. "Anyone who saw that will die," she hissed between clenched teeth, her fists gripped tightly as she springs forward again, towards the Swashbuckler. When she gets close enough, she doesn't activate a skill; instead, she drops low, coming in for a sliding tackle with a foot aimed rudely at his crotch. "Die, you worthless, useless skag!"

Yeah.... she's pretty pissed.

*Word Count 233, Total 1789*
Tags: Izo

[Steel]

The swashbuckler jumped upward to dodge the sliding tackle, using speed to his advantage. But then all of a sudden, he got blasted by a small projectile in the nuts and was knocked back a good distance, all the way back to his swashbuckler partner. "Crash Shot!" A voice called out before several fragments of shrapnel bombarded the swashbuckler and the assassin. "Geez, what a bunch of wusses. They only target beginners." A male said as he walked out into the area. He had a gun in one hand and a sword in the other hand. The gun was put back into its holster and another sword was drawn, showing that he was a Swashbuckler. This was the player named Steel. He looked at the situation as he saw the opponent's HP get restored. "There's a healer hidden somewhere, it'll be troublesome to deal with until the healer is gone."

OOC: Hope you don't mind that I drop in. And you're making this fight too easy for yourselves that's why I increased the difficulty a little.