The Grove of New Beginnings [Closed/Invite Only]

[Unova]

The wind picked up, as a girl, clad in starter equipment, raised her flute to her mouth. After a few seconds of mental preparing, the flute began to ring out in its beautiful tone. The flowers all around her began to dance in the breeze, flowing slowly in time with the music. Swaying her body with the song, letting everything brush past her, she forgot about the area surrounding her, and focused solely on the music she was playing. A song she had never heard before, but one she had in her heart since her young days. A melody that time never knew, but will echo throughout the ages. One she will never forget, and she will always remember. The song of a long ago time, brought about in a new life.

Unova had already accepted the fact that they were stuck in this new world. This world that she had embarked into, so carelessly, was to become her new home. A new home that she did not deny, but didn't necessarily want, either. Not to mention, the friends that she was supposedly going to be in the game with were nowhere to be seen. If she could just find one of them, then maybe, it wouldn't feel so lonely right now. However, going right out into the field to fight something instead of staying in the town may or may not be a good idea, since it was a bit crazy back in the town. Having lived nearby Salisbury, she never knew what London would look like in a video game. Now she knew.

As much as she would have loved to stay in the town, though, she wasn't sure if the mass hysteria would catch up to people so quickly, causing people to trample over one another in an attempt to get out, or just to leave the area as well. So, she wanted to do something that would bring her away from all the pain and trouble that it might bring. Before she knew it, her feet had carried her here, without even a second thought. A flower grove, of course. It makes sense, since the most tranquil places are often the most comforting, as if anybody needed to state that fact. She just liked flowers, nature, and everything that wasn't created by humankind. There was a certain kind of wonder that filled her heart, when she came to a place of natural beauty.

As her song ended, she lowered her flute from her mouth. Opening her eyes a bit, she looked at the piece of metal, slightly bent at the end, with a warm gaze. While it wasn't the greatest piece of musical equipment there was in the world, it certainly satisfied the fact that she could play something, to soothe herself. If she was on her own, for at least a little while, she could gather herself, in a way that would allow her to relax, before facing this new world entirely. She wanted to live here, without so much as a worry. Instead, placing the flute into her inventory once again, and taking out her bow and arrows, she started to look around for some kind of monster. Since this was a place where monsters of lower level were common, she figured that she would see some soon. Hopefully, her aim was good enough to land a few hits on things.

Words: 567
Tags: @hoenn, @johto, Kalos

[Deleted]

It had been a while since Johto had taken the time to really appreciate nature. While she used to spend most of her free time outside with friends, playing in the park or swimming in the local pool or anything else they could think of, ever since they had all began playing video games together, they found themselves spending much less time away from their computers. Honestly, she had missed it. Now that she was once more out in the wilderness, regardless of the fact that this was no longer Cambridge, she was beginning to realize just how much. Nature wasn't anything she had found particularly interesting in school, but the creatures that inhabited it certainly had an opposite effect on her. She was fond of most animals--the smaller and cuter the better, of course. Which made being a Summoner a pretty great perk. Of course, when you have trouble not staring at the small fairy follower you just summoned, things might get a little edgy.

At the present moment, Johto found herself in the Windsor Greatwood. She didn't have any particular destination, however. She had decided to come out to the forest in order to do a little training. It hadn't been very long since she and thousands of other Elder Tales players had been trapped in the Unfounded Kingdom. Surprisingly, it also hadn't taken long for her to accept this fact. She had been confused and frightened at first, almost to the point of tears. However, something inside her told her that breaking down to tears wasn't going to help her in any way. It was tough, but she was able to overcome her fear, leaving her simply confused. Of course, asking questions didn't seem to be doing any good, either. Who could she ask anyway?

To make matters even worse, her friends had not been with her when she had been spirited away to this fantastical place. She wasn't too surprised when she finally put some thought into it. She had ended up here almost as soon as she finished creating her character. Upon clicking on the Play button, she had blacked out. When she came to, she found herself standing in some sort of ruins. Her reaction was pretty typical to how someone might act when they wake up in some unfamiliar place. She assumed the same had happened to her friends, all of them gathered in the living room of one of her friends' houses. That thought brought another one to mind: what were the people back in the real world thinking? Initially, she wondered if her existence had simply been overwritten, and nothing about the world she knew existed any longer. However, the fact that she retained memories of the real world seemed to debunk that theory. Eventually, she came to learn that only players of Elder Tales had been transported. So what of the people left behind. The panic was almost too much to imagine.

These thoughts of fear and wonder were now behind her, however. While she pondered at the answers to this predicament, an event now dubbed The Apocalypse, she had moved past the initial shock and awe, and had decided to get to work on helping rebuild their lives. It seemed strange that not much was being done to figure out how to get out the Unfounded Kingdom, but she soon realized that doing so was probably a moot endeavor. They needed to establish themselves in this new land. Most of the mechanics of the game itself seemed to exist, so levels and stats were still relevant. Staying in towns in order to avoid combat with the world's monsters seemed like a tempting approach to life in Elder Tales, but Johto knew that even the safe zones of the towns probably weren't perfectly impenetrable. No, she knew she would need to get stronger if she wanted to survive in this world.

As Johto continued on her undetermined path, she began to hear something in the distance, not too far from her current location. The sound was musical, and after a few seconds, she realized it was the sound of a flute of some sort. She didn't know much about instruments, but the basic sound was unmistakable. Curious, she started off toward the sound. After some time, she found herself at the edge of a flower grove. The sight was majestic, causing her to gasp softly in awe, her eyes widening as she scanned the colorful forest floor. She sun shown brightly over the clearing, making the dew on each flower petal to shine brilliantly. The scene was captivating.

Johto stood there, the sound of the flute taking over her sense of hearing. She looked around for the source, finding a girl standing in the clearing, a metal flute pressed to her lips. So this was the source of this beautiful melody. Clearly a Bard, no mistaking that. Johto slowly brought her hand up, bringing it in front of her and making a pointing gesture at the girl's back. A small menu appeared in front of her, granting basic information of the girl. It was enough to know that she was another Adventurer, at least. Johto closed the menu, having not made it a habit of inspecting other players in the MMORPGs she had played before. She liked not knowing and felt like, even thought the information was could be accessed by any other player in most cases, she felt like it was an invasion of privacy. A silly standpoint, no doubt, but she stood by it as much as possible.

When the girl had finished, Johto watched as she replaced the flute with a bow and arrow and began to inspect her surroundings. It seemed the girl intended to do some training her own. Johto smiled and began to approach her. Lifting an arm over her head, she called out while there was still distant between them--she didn't really want to startle the girl and end up with an arrow to the kne--...

Umm...excuse me! I hope I'm not interrupting you too much, but I was hoping...I could...maybe join you out here?

Tags: @hoenn, Unova, Kalos
Words: 1025

[Deleted]

"WoO~Oow!" Hoenn's excited voice wavered in pitch as she looked around, her blue eyes as wide as can be. She had no idea where she was or what she was doing but everything looked amazing. Somehow, she had gone from sitting at her computer to standing in the middle of the game she had just downloaded. She wasn't sure how or why but that didn't bother her in the least. She barely even stopped to consider it, there was no point dwelling on what was already done. Instead, she was walking down the middle of the street, arms spread wide and twirling around every so often to get a full three-hundred-sixty view of the town. "This is cool!" She giggled and spun around once more, her cheeks flush from excitement. Not everyone around her seemed to share her sentiments on the matter but she was too busy getting lost to really notice. Having never played this game before, or taking the time to read the instructions, she had zero idea how to use her map or any of her items. All she had was her basic starter gear equipped by default.

As she continued along, her focus now flipping between her menu screens and the city street, Hoenn was gradually drifting out of the city. She bumped into several people and tripped over herself once but all the same, she strolled along. Curious, she selected a bunch of random options on her display. "Oops!" She laughed when she accidentally unequipped her armor, leaving her rather bare aside from some simple underclothes. "I should probably put those back on," She fiddled with the choices a moment more before she figured it out and covered herself again. While she was in there, she also was able to equip both of her long swords, one on each side on her waist. She rocked her hips back and forth, looking down at the weapons shifting and swaying beside her. A grin spread across her face, she felt invincible.

The wind picked up and rushed by her, bringing with it a sweet smell and a soft melody. Looking up, Hoenn realized she had wandered out of the town completely and was on the edge of a rather large grove of flowers. Spread out before her was a myriad of colors, all swaying in the breeze. As if always intended to go together, the sound of what she thought was a flute washed over the scene. She turned and followed the music she had heard, wondering what was making it. Maybe it was a monster she could test herself out on, one that lured its victims in with beautiful notes. What better way to learn how this worked than to dive straight in.

It was, both fortunately and unfortunately, not a monster that had drawn her in but apparently a girl. Or rather, two. There was a brunette (who had just switched from the flute to a bow & arrow) a bit off from her yet and a blue haired one only a few feet in front of her. The one closer to her seemed a bit shy as she hesitantly called out, expressing her desire to join in with whatever the other had planned. When she focused on them, simple display bars appeared stating their name and class. "That's amazing!" She couldn't help the words that burst forth. She probably startled both of the other girls but she meant them no harm. Her blue eyes were sparkling with interest and it was obvious that she was amused by what she had seen. "Clearly we were fated to meet here in this flower garden," She dashed closer to them, a few of her steps closer to skipping as she bounced. "That song you were playing was beautiful, what was it called?" A look of something crossed between surprise and embarassment flashed across her face before being replaced by another large smile. "I almost forgot, I'm Hoenn!" She waved at both of them. "So, what are you guys doing out here?" She rocked her hips again, letting the sheaths smack against her thighs. Maybe, if she was lucky, they could explain how to use her items and skills. She still hadn't figured it out entirely yet.

Tags - Unova @johto Kalos
Words - 709
#f6bcf2

[Kalos]

"WHOAAA!~" was the first word that came out of the young woman's mouth when she realized where she was. It was so eerie to see that the world Kalos was watching minutes ago behind her computer screen had now become the reality she found herself in. At first, it was a scary feeling, but as she stood there, getting accustomed to her surroundings, she started to feel...well, exhilirated! With big eyes, she stopped and stared at her forest surroundings, marveling at all the intricate detail she was surrounded by. She ran a hand over the surface of a tree, letting out a small laugh like a small child would when they discovered something new and interesting.

Every new discovery was met with either an "Oooooh~" or an "Ahhhh~", touching everything she could lay her eyes on as she walked through the forest. Those leaves! That patch of fuzzy green moss! Those pearly white tusks! That scraggly tuft of fur on a woodland creature! "...Eh?!"

No sooner than she realized what she touched, a dark blur exploded from the undergrowth. With a cry of "KYAAAA!!", Kalos leapt backwards just in time to see a dark Pittered Boar pawing aggressively into the earth. Fortunately for her, she was a Monk, so she was able to deal a lot of damage as well as taking it. Unfortunately, she had just gotten through the combat tutorial, so she didn't have as a good a grasp over fighting as she hoped she would. However, finding herself inside the game wasn't an event she didn't quite anticipate, so she really couldn't be blamed for that. So that only left her with one option, and she took to it like...well, warts on a hog.

With a high-pitched "MEEP", she ran where ever she thought would get her away from the monster the fastest. Thanks to all the trees, it made it hard for the bulky boar to squeeze through all the tight spots that the lithely girl took. As she continued to run, she heard the faint, melodic sounds of a flute, accompanied soon after by muffled sounds of conversation. "Oh, good! People!" she said to herself, picking up the pace. The cracking and snapping of branches sounded far off now, but they showed no signs of diminishing. Before she knew it, she found herself in a clearing with 3 other female adventurers, just as one introduced herself as Hoenn.

"Hi, Hoenn! I'm Kalos! Nice to meet all of you!" she said, not missing a beat and acting as if she knew them her entire life. The sounds of crashing through the forest were rapidly getting closer, Kalos hurriedly asking her next question.

"Umm, could anyone here quickly explain to me how to use skills in the next, oh, say...5 seconds?"

Then the boar came charging in.

Words: 470
Tags: Unova, @johto, @hoenn
Speech: #00f099

[Unova]

Soon after having finished her song, Unova heard a sudden, quiet voice from nearby. It was quiet enough so that the girl didn't react in a surprised or shocked manner, but it still caught her a little off-guard. Turning to face the newcomer, Unova couldn't help but stare at this girl for a few seconds, wondering why such a person would suddenly approach, and then ask to join her out in this area. Her eyes stared at the girl for a few more seconds, before her face began to form a smile. As gentle as she could, it seemed that this girl was just as shy as Unova herself was, when meeting new people. Having experienced this kind of stuff before, she decided that one of them had to be the welcoming factor. It would be her, in this case.

"Yes, of course." She lightly spoke, lowering her bow down a bit. "Please, do. The more, the merrier, as they say." A light giggle followed her statement, as she began to look around once again. Hopefully this new girl was ready for a fight of some sort, since they were destined to fight something probably soon. But, what had come next was a different girl, much louder than the other. Not that Unova minded how people talked. That's just the way of the world. Offering a slight bow to the newcoming girl, calling herself Hoenn, Unova responded. "A pleasure to meet you, Hoenn. I am Unova." She didn't want to respond for the other girl, who had yet to give her name. But, that sentiment wasn't ignored.

Soon enough, yet another came. This time, a blonde-haired girl appearing from far away, apparently attracted to the sound of people and music. After very briefly greeting the newcomer, Hoenn, she very quickly responded with a question. Without enough time to bow to her entrance, Unova was quite perplexed by the sudden appearance of the girl, and her question about using skills and the like in this new world. Unova just assumed that the system would take over, and just do whatever it was that was needed to do by responding to the call of the user. However, there wasn't enough time to fully explain it outright, as an enemy had very quickly entered their range. A single boar, true, but an enemy must never be underestimated. Her parents always read her books of war from their homeland, as they were fascinated by the subject.

Taking that into account, Unova very quickly raised her bow, strung the arrow, and let it loose towards the boar. Unable to tell if she had made a hit or not, she quickly started to move in a different direction than that of the boar, since a ranged unit must always try and keep their distance. "You three! Get ready to attack it! I'll use one of my skills to slow it down!" Unova, having reached a distance safe enough for her to act without worry, lowered her bow, and began to sing out a tune from an old western movie that her parents so loved, thereby activating Lullaby of the Mermaid in the Moonlight. The mermaid figure had begun to appear over her head, as her voice rang out with the song. Her voice focused on keeping the enemy at bay, Unova sang out with all her might, to provide her allies ample opportunity to strike.

Words: 569
Tags: @johto, @hoenn, Kalos
Notes: Skill should remain in effect for this turn.
Voice color: #08c4c4

[Deleted]

Johto was, admittedly, a bit surprised that the girl had allowed her to come along so readily. Of course, Johto was fairly certain she didn't appear the least bit threatening--and, thankfully, she had succeeded in not surprising the other girl into attacking her out of self defense. She decided to take that one as a win. Johto smiled and nodded to the girl, opening her menu in order to equip her weapons, something she probably should have done a little earlier.

With her weapons now equipped, she stepped toward her new companion, fiddling with her menus as she looked for her party commands. Just then, she heard footsteps behind her, followed by a hearty, cheerful exclamation. The sudden sound of the voice cutting through the silence of the grove sent Johto reeling. She tried to turn, but the shock and her forward momentum instead caused her to stumble. Unable to regain her balance, she flopped onto the ground, arms and legs sprawled out comically, her face now buried in the many flowers that blanketed the forest floor. She let out a soft oof as she lay there. The smell of the flowers was really nice, now that she was so up close and personal with them. She took a deep whiff and sighed.

These smell so good!

She grinned and rolled over, looking up at the newcomer. It was another girl who stood not far from her. She raised up on her elbows and tilted her head at the girl who was now speaking of destiny and complimenting the other girl's flute playing. Johto saw her blush for an instant before smiling and introducing herself, followed promptly by the other. This reminded Johto that she had yet to do the same with the Bard girl. She stood up and brushed herself off, then smiled at the two girls.

Oh, right. Introductions. I'm Johto. It's a pleasure to meet you both.

She bowed slightly and smiled again. However, her smile turned to a look of surprise once more as she her something break through the treeline into the grove not far from where they all stood. Johto looked to find yet another girl, who looked to be in quite the hurry. She must have heard Hoenn introduce herself, because she greeted her by name, but made it apparent she didn't know her by introducing herself as well. Johto took note of her name and was about to speak, but the girl, Kalos, continued. She followed her introduction by asking one of them to instruct her in skill use. What caught Johto as odd was that she asked to be told in the next few seconds. Johto didn't have enough time to wonder about it, however, as a Pittered Boar soon came crashing through the trees as well. Johto's eyes went wide as she wasted no time in retrieving her crystal ball.

Within seconds, she was ready for combat, and Unova had already taken the lead in laying out a loose plan of attack. It seemed simple enough, and soon, she could hear Unova singing in a soft but deliberate voice. Johto turned her gaze back to the Boar, which began to slow its charge, albeit not of its own will. Johto nodded and held out her crystal ball in front of her.

Wind and wood, hear my call. Sylph!

The crystal ball began to glow a faint green color, a strange insignia of a darker green appearing in the center. A second later, the ball blinked brightly, followed by a flash of light a meter ahead of where Johto stood. From the light came a small fairy creature--Johto's first and presently only follower, Sylph. Johto smiled as the fairy danced and flitted around in front of her, then immediately set it to attack the boar. For now, she would let it do its thing. She hadn't taken any offensive skills for the follower, so auto-attacking was all it had going for it for now. Johto then grabbed the whip that hung from her hip, snapping it toward the follower, but not daring to actually hit it. The follower let off a faint glow as its attacks quickened and increased in power. Summoner's Whip wasn't a significant buff, but it would at least help.

Tags: @hoenn, Unova, Kalos
Words: 711
Notes: Combat Round 1 :: skill should remain in effect until the end of Round 2; cooldown ends at the beginning of Round 4.

[Deleted]

Hoenn burst into a fit of giggles, her hand half covering her mouth, when the blue haired girl landed face first in the flowers, apparently startled from her sudden appearance. The girls reaction to it only sent her further into laughter, her knees bending and her blue eyes filling with tears as she curled in on herself to try and contain it. It was all she could to keep standing. After a few deep breaths and one or two stray giggles that popped up, Hoenn was able to calm herself enough to hear the introduction of both girls - Unova and Johto. Unova gave her the impression of a kind and polite girl whereas Johto seemed a little more timid with a bit of a silly side. She briefly wondered if perhaps she had been transferred to an Asian server, given that everyone was bowing to each other in greeting.

All the while, a fourth person had been rapidly approaching them, unnoticed until she streaked by and called out her name of Kalos. Along with her hasty introduction she seemed in a hurry to learn how to use her skills. Hoenn tilted her head around to see where Kalos had come from and immediately realized why. She was being chased by some sort of pig monster. "Ooh!" Hoenn's hands went to the swords at her hips, her eyes widening to almost double their size. Just as she was about to charge in and see what happened, Unova called out to them and cast a spell of her own first. The effect of it seemed to be to slow the target. Immediately following, Johto called forth a cute little fairy-spirit-thing she called Sylph. "Everyone has such cute spells!" Hoenn turned her attention back to the boar, which was now much closer.

"I wonder what I can do?" With as much flair as she could manage, Hoenn unsheathed both of her starter swords and held them out in front of her. "Go, swords, I choose you!" She called out but the blades did nothing. "Attack!" Her eyebrow arched and her lips puffed out in a pout. "...I thought for sure that would work..." The boar was only a few feet in front of her now. "Oh well, I'm sure it will work out! I'm going in!" She held the swords, pointed out slightly as she ran, and bolted straight towards the monster. She swung both blades down and across, creating an X shape, in attempt to slice at the boar. As soon as the motion was made, a skill seemed to kick in and her body flashed forward, as if she was phasing directly through the creature. Unprepared for it, she stumbled forward and fell to her knees, her eyes wide. "That... was so... cool!" Without even meaning to, she has used her skill Mirage Dealer. Hoenn scrambled to her feet and spun back around.

As proof of her success in casting the skill, a bit of the boars health was missing. However, she now had the monsters full attention. "Eep!" Hoenn looked from side to side hastily. All of the things she should have been wondering such as what her defense was, how much damage she would take if she was hit and what level the monster was were all absent from her thoughts. She had absolutely no plan from the start and she wasn't about to come up with one now. Remembering the question Kalos has posed earlier, Hoenn began running in figure eights to distract the monster. "Kalos!" She called out as she continued to sprint, her swords waving around randomly. "I'm distracting it for you," She was clearly trying to play off the fact that she hadn't planned for this at all. "Go ahead and try and figure out your skills now!" Translation: Please hurry and do something before I die! "I believe in you!"

Tags - Unova @johto Kalos
Words - 646

[Kalos]

Kalos couldn't but watch in wide-eyed wonderment as she watched the other three adventures ready themselves to take on the boar. The girl who had been playing the flute had suddenly drawn her bow and arrow, the bolt singing as it flew through the air at the boar. She felt a gust as the boar let out a squeal, signaling to her that the bolt had found purchase in its bristly hide.

The girl with blue hair had also pulled out a weapon, a small glass sphere, to combat the noisy monster. She tilted her head, trying to figure out how one would use such a thing. Was she going to throw it? Was she an Olympic-grade shot putter (or whatever those kinds of athletes were called) and was going to hurl it at the monster with a tremendous throwing action? Thankfully not, because the orb began to glow, and soon a small wisp of a fairy appeared, attacking the boar post haste.

Then it was Hoenn's turn as she watched her try to summon her swords via voice command, feeling puzzled that it didn't work as well. It seemed like, by far, the most logical choice to make when you find yourself in a world of swords and sorcery. Maybe she didn't say it correctly? Or maybe she had to yell it louder because maybe her swords were sleepy or something? In the end, it didn't really matter, because she managed to land a solid hit on it. Unfortunately for Hoenn, that was enough for the boar to lock eyes with her and commence with the battle.

Kalos felt herself begin to panic, lightly running in place as she tried to pull up her in-game menu to find her skills. She certainly didn't want to see any of her fellow adventurers get hurt, but if she didn't do something quickly, someone would get injured due to her lack of knowledge. With a yell of frustration, Kalos ran up to the boar and wrapped her arms around it, hoping that it would be enough to slow it down so someone could land an attack on it. Instead, she felt herself plant her feet firmly on the ground, raising the boar off the ground with a strength she never knew she possessed.

Without warning, she leapt into the air and came crashing back down, slamming the boar's tusked face into the earth below. Both Kalos and the boar laid there for a while, the Monk rising to her feet to dust herself off. She stared out at the horizon as her mind tried to look for a valid explanation as to what had just happened.

"Umm...I guess that slowed it down?" she said, giving a sheepish smile as her face flushed red. The boar rose to its feet again, shaking the dizziness from its head.

So much for first impressions...

---

Notes: Skills Used - Suplex
Words: 479
Tags: Unova @johto @hoenn