Cowardly Steed[open]

[Mikoto]

The rules of the game had changed. It wasn't any longer about playing and having fun. No, it had been twisted its meaning changed and turned away from that simple innocence. The game had ceased to be just that, a game, and instead become a reality. A reality where death had no permanence, you could do pretty much whatever you wanted and little could be done to stop you, and finally survival was a very real thing. Some might argue that in fact with death not being permanent that one could simply sit and do nothing. Or be reckless. It all depended on several things. You're personality and your character level.

She'd admittedly spent a large portion of the early time simply sitting around in town thinking that perhaps a message would pop up and a way out would be announced. No such notice came. Still she had sat there waiting unsure of what to do. Finally though she'd gotten to her feet dusted off her backside and headed for the stables. If she had any hope of getting out then she'd need to save herself. No more being just a damsel waiting for her knight to come and rescue her she'd simply rescue herself she was a knight after all. 

She'd not selected the color of her horse at the creation of this character. Nor had she thought about it too much as she had simply sat idle in the town. She'd selected a bay colored stallion having decided that if she was going to go flying into the enemy atop a massive beast at hell for leather speed then she'd do it on a horse the same color as her own back in the real world. She'd warmed to the brute immediately having a soft spot for equine species. Perhaps it was the many years of equestrian training that had put that soft spot into her? She couldn't have said then or now. Not even as she wandered forward annoyed with her present situation.

She'd gone for a ride this morning, it was late afternoon now, upon her bay as she tried to come up with a name for him. She'd been in mid thought when it had let out that high pitched shriek before rearing back and tossing her to the ground with a clunk. Dancing about for but a moment the brute had sprinted off scared out of its mind. Righting herself while bringing her shield in front of her she locks eyes with what had sent her horse to the hills. A rabbit. A fluffy brown wild rabbit. Perhaps it would be sometime before she could trust this steed of hers to be her faithful mount when she had to go flying into the ranks of enemies. There was no question of that. Not after that display of cowardice.

As she walked along her armor clunked and rustled and her battered weapons shone a dull light that spoke of 'years' of hard use. Her armor was tarnished and rusted. Repairs, dents, dings, and scuff marks covered the various pieces. Were these real pieces of armor she'd have been scared to where them. The chain-mail wasn't in much better shape than the plate she wore over it. Some of the rings had obvious wear. Some links were missing cause gaps in her dress. The leather thongs that ran up each sleeve were tattered and cracked making their secureness come into question as she walked along the wooded path. Her greaves were roughly a size too big for her. Or at least thats how they felt. There was a stiffness in the heavy leather boots around the toes causing a slight pinch with each step. The boots were growing looser with each step it seemed. The bowl that was her helmet fit tight around her head. This was likely due to how she wore her hair. She wasn't about to let it hang loose behind her. She didn't enjoy the idea of someone grabbing it and giving it a good yank. Either up or down would be uncomfortable she'd just have to deal with it.

Her weapons weren't in much better shape. The shield was little more than a few planks of wood nailed together, roughly shaped into a heater shield shape and covered in filthy canvas then smeared in a cold grey primer. The edges had marks in testament to its hard use. Cuts, wedges and tattered edges of the canvas ran most of the way around the small shield. There was no shield boss and the straps were leather that was blackened with oil and age. Even gripping the one handle tightly still allowed the shield to wobble about when receiving blows. It was disconcerting and had made her mind up earlier in the day that as soon as she was able to she would upgrade this shield and get one more befitting of a cavalry soldier. Then there was her weapon...

Beaten far worse than the rest of her gear she was surprised that it was still in once piece and usable. The blade was a series of cracks and chips and dull along its length. The handle had been rewrapped at least one time judging by the way the grip felt off in comparison. The guard and pommel were tarnished and copper that covered the ball of lead at the end of the sword was polished to a briliant shine from years of rubbing agains the thigh or side of its many owners. One of the cross bars of the guard was shorter than the other. Obviously broken off long ago and simply reshaped and smoothed out to appear more natural. To anyone who knew a thing or two about weaponry it would be obvious what had happened. She'd need to gather materials or money as quickly as she could so she could get rid of these poor pieces of equipment and replace them with gear that fit better and didn't leave her wondering if the next blow would leave her without a weapon or shield. 

WC:1013

[Alvina]

sang - at - you

If you knew, knew what the Bluebirds

When Adamaris had opened the game for the first time, making minute adjustments to her avatar on the character creation screen, it felt almost like a new beginning. She'll have to assimilate any new mechanics in the game, for no doubt things had changed since the Homesteading the Noosphere expansion. The thought of having to relearn certain system functions, of making new friends, of new challenges, it was practically a new life, created with mere clicks of a keyboard and a few options on a screen. One that she was very much eagerly awaiting to embark on. And yet, when she confirmed her character details, for a disorienting period of time she had a feeling of utter certainty that something had gone wrong. Much like falling asleep---opening your eyes only to realize that the world around had changed as you entered a dream of your own creation, with only a void in your memory to mark the difference in environment---that was exactly how it seemed like when, the next thing she knew, she was simply there, in the world she had meant to rejoin as a fictional character. That ephemeral moment was as impossible to describe as it was to recall. When she mentioned a new life made for herself, she honestly didn't meant it quite so literally. To be perfectly honest, all thoughts about starting anew had gone down the drain the minute she found herself physically in the Unfounded Kingdom itself. Though normally far from cowardly, Adamaris---no, it was Alvina now, wasn't it?---had watched more than enough anime and read countless manga and light novels to know that, when stuck in a game with seemingly no way of exiting, there was a chance that you could live forever, that you had stumbled across a place where death had no meaning, where it will never be the end of your life. Of course, on the flip side, a single mistake in-game could cost you everything in the real world. She wasn't quite ready to take that chance just yet. So she ran: she ran further into the world that looked so similar yet felt completely different. For the first time Alvina could feel the wind as it whipped her hair, could smell the scent of leaves moist with dew, and suddenly the world of Elder Tale meant so much more to her than when it was merely a game that she played in her free time, when it was nothing but thousands of pixels projected on a screen. Now, it felt like a reality. She rented an inn, fully intending to stay there for the rest of her time here in this world, until someone finally figured a way to get out. That, or until she ran her starting amount of gold dry. In the meantime Alvina had spent her time wandering around the city, exploring the place that seemed completely different from the one in the U.S. server. Contrary to what the game advertised, the Unfounded Kingdom was so overgrown with floral that it looked almost nothing like London, except for the occasional landmarks sporadically scattered around the town. But it turned out that inns were really expensive, and her metaphorical pocket, with a sum as mediocre as it was in it, could not cover the expenses for more than a few weeks. After the month-long grace period that she obtained, she had to start venturing out to earn her upkeep if she was to continue living in relative comfort in this world. Choosing a newbie area, she equipped her starter gear, wincing at the rather dilapidated quality of the staff and cloth armor. If she was going to live here for any period of time, her first goal would be to obtain some better stuff as soon as possible. Her attire was sewn over countless times and made of a terrible material, and her staff was hardly a branch. Honestly, she could probably find better quality wood off the twigs on the ground. And yet, they were the only pieces of equipment that she had, so she had no choice but to put up with them for the time being. The Savill Flower Grove was beautiful, possessing a sort of tranquility that seemed ironic when one considered the numerous monsters that spawned around the area. To a level one character, the small spawn rate coupled with the relatively low levels of the mobs here made the Grove an ideal location for somebody just starting out; or one foolish enough to wait a month before attempting to farm up AP. Strolling around the field alone, she cast Keen Edge on her weapon, watching the icon of the buff pop up alongside her wrist. Just as the Foxtail thought, the act of casting a magic-based ability had drawn the attention of a nearby Dull Green Slime hiding amongst the grass, its AI directing it to approach the source of the mana expenditure. When it came within range, Alvina raised her staff and whacked it hard across the field, aggroing it and reducing its health by a grand...5% or so. She was suddenly reminded of why she hated playing a solo support character, especially one with no heals and minimal DPS. Why didn't she pick up Pulse Bullet as one of her starting spells?! Sure, it was mana intensive, but she could have augmented that by taking up Mana Trance or something. Anything was better than auto-attacking a slime to death. When the green menace finally burst into shards of light, vanishing into the air as she received a notification of her gold and AP gained, she collapsed onto the ground dramatically, heaving a rather unnecessary sigh of relieve. The first slime itself took her at least a couple of minutes, and at this rate farming was so inefficient that it was practically a waste of time. Man, she needed a party soon. Just as she thought that, Alvina heard the sound of galloping hooves, before a piercing shriek tore through the air, shattering the serenity that hung around the Grove like a second skin. Swinging her gaze around, the Enchanter caught sight of the fleeing horse several dozen meters away from her, the poor rider dusting herself off the ground and---her Pathfinder eyes narrowed as she processed the data written at the top of the monster's status bar---a Frenmic Rabbit. The sight of it all, coupled with the fact that she herself felt as equally pathetic after taking ages to attack a level one creature to death, caused her to burst into long, uncontrolled giggles. Her laughter was so hard, that was she not already sitting down on the ground, she would have fallen onto the floor in amusement. Nonetheless, she was doubling over at the force of her own hysterics. The Rider had already set of, walking at a brisk pace no doubt in an attempt to catch her steed back. Well, this was the only interesting thing to happen all day, and honestly, she was far from eager to go back to her miserable endeavor to gain some levels. So, a few minutes after finally catching her breath, Alvina convinced herself that taking the lazy option had its merits, and got to her feet. Following the Guardian's trail was a bit hard, but after sticking in the general direction of the runaway horse for a time, sooner or later the Foxtail spotted the silhouette up ahead. "Hey!" Alvina called out when she was close enough to be heard. "I saw you lose your horse! I'm not too sure about the Cavalier class, but can't you just resummon it back?"

• 1274 words • HP: 79% || MP: 86% • Mikoto • notes:

♥︎

[Mikoto]

She stopped when she heard the female voice call out to her. Turning she cast her eyes upon the fox-tailed enchanter. Low leveled, round about the same as her, that much was apparent by the girls gear. Everyone looked like shit for a long time in this game. The weapons they could sometimes look sort of ok but that was never a good measure of its combat ability. You could have the shiniest blade at your level and it didn't matter if it cut like a wet noodle. "I saw you lose your horse! I'm not too sure about the Cavalier class, but can't you just resummon it back?" the girl said as she drew nearer.

"No," she said after the girl finished speaking, "Its a little different for Cavaliers. While I can use a whistle to recall the horse I'd rather take the time to find it. A chance to grind some levels and perhaps earn a bit more respect from the horse. These cavalier mounts are bigger brutes than your standard horse and are a bit more skittish when you first get them. It takes time and a lot of effort to turn them into a reliable cavalry mount." She looked about their surroundings. It was starting to grow dark and while they weren't far from the city limits they didn't have time to stand around and chat. She had a horse to find.

It wasn't like the animal would be completely incapable of taking care of itself for one night. She was fairly certain the beast would be able to avoid mot enemies or simply went to a "horse only" area on the map and would be safe until she summoned it. However, there was something within her that wouldn't let her simply leave it outside all night if she could avoid it. It was a hold over from her time in the real world and caring for her horse as much as she was allowed to. Adjusting her grip on her rather unstable shield she looks once again in the direction her steeds prints ran. Hopefully she were getting closer.

Looking back at the enchanter she thinks for a moment. "Enchanters aren't so good at solo'ing correct? Come help me look for this coward of a steed of mine. I'll give you a ride back to town when we do find him," she said. She'd take the aggression of any beasties they ran into and the enchanter could keep her alive as best as she could. Tank and support doing their jobs the way they were meant to. Then again, with this no longer being a game if someone was determined enough they could be a rather ballsy fighter even if their class wasn't meant for it. The apocalypse had changed things drastically in this world. So much so that perhaps being stuck here wasn't such a bad thing? Maybe without her family name hanging over her like it did she could be the person she really was on the inside? Or perhaps she would keep the facade up just a little while longer just incase this was only a temporary thing.

WC: 526

[Kanto]

Hyped by his several friends talking about the game 'elder tales' new expansion for London and a re-encounter with an old friend the following day, Jeff Took his time with making his character. He had never played the game before but he knew his way around games and how abilities combo. After a hard look at his options while making his character he went with an all out Assassin, Choosing Tracker,a Katana, and some throwing needles. Chef was a personal choice because food was a fun part of the day, not that he thought it would matter too much in this game. maybe seconds if that after he finished his character he blacked out.

Slowly, he awoke, his eyes still blurry and his body tingly. he stood up yawning. "somethings not right here" he said finishing his yawn. after wiping his eyes and looking around at the apocalyptic overgrowth that appeared to be a unpopulated London. he could only identify it as London because of a few landmarks nearby. "holy crap, what happened here?" he asked to himself or so he supposed since he was the only person in his view. he paced around trying to think of what could have happened but his memory was being a real foggy blur to him. The only thing he could remember was Making a character... that looked exactly like himself.he realized that he was the character, and that brought some clarity about his view around him, since he was aprox. 5'8 in this world. only 3 inches shorter but those 3 inches made a difference, with a few trips that have happened in his short walk. The only other thing he remembered was he was supposed to be meeting someone. "Who?"he whispered to himself, standing up. maybe he would find this person after a walk, or something else would clear up, he thought as he made his way into the marketplace

WC:321

[Nisha]

Ah, really, what was she still doing here anyway, should someone like her really be fooling around in such a low level area of the game? Some had told her to man up already, or at least woman up and do her job at the frontlines, but Nisha knew there was as much interesting stuff there than there was here. And even if her goal was to see all the things that there were in the game, that also meant to meet new people and see how they acted. And so she was still here and did not mind one bit, she actually enjoyed herself quite a bit. And the grove was one of her favorite places as well, so many tall trees around to sleep in. Shortly after the game changed, Nisha had begun to feel a bit different as well, looking for tall places to sleep on and being able to relax on such places quite well for whatever reason. But just like that had changed, the tail she had gained had been such a new thing that she had taken time off to figure that piece out. And now she had eight of those. Sighing, she looked down as she heard a horse trampling about and breaking loose from it´s owner apparently, well, that was nothing new, but normally it happened to the landers and not the adventurers.

Kind of intrigued, Nisha slowly climbed down the tree and heard voices come closer as she did. Letting herself fall the rest of the way, she landed on all fours and with clattering teeth in front of the two people. "Well, hello there you two." Nisha said after getting her bearings for a second, a reassuring smile on her face that she did not mean harm and her eight tails wagging like an excited dog and looking quite and very fluffy, maybe even inviting to cuddle. Other than that, the slender figure of Nisha was definitely not wearing the start equipment anymore and the ebon bow slung over her shoulder told a definitive story. "Need any help?" Asking as such, she wondered if the horse she had seen was one of these people´s, although usually they could just call it back, going on a little adventure for it seemed intriguing too. Not that it would be the first time Nisha would do something even though the game got an easier answer, Nisha actually liked these kinds of fools, who wanted to immerse themself even more and play as realistically as possible, she herself was after all, one of the biggest fools when it came to that. It was just so exhilerating to actually do stuff instead of just running auto around and actually manually inputting every last command. She definitely loved how the world had become after whatever had happened that had cut them off from the outside world. In short, she was one of those who had no desire to go back as long as this dreamlike state lasted, but she also would not be the last one to leave when someone eventually found a way back. Or stay here if it came to that. She would just enjoy this as long as it lasted and then go back to her loving family and enjoy the real world just as much.

Words: 553
Tags: Mikoto Alvina Kanto
Weapon: Nishan(Scar)
Armor: Nishanat (Daybreak)
Accessoires: Nishani (Keepsake)

[Alvina]

sang - at - you

If you knew, knew what the Bluebirds

To be perfectly honest, while Alvina had dedicated years to the game known as Elder Tale, she didn't really have the memory capacity to memorize the skills and details of all the subclasses available in the game---not too mention that there were undoubtedly new ones added in the recent expansion that she hasn't even heard of yet. The Cavalier class was one such subclass that she was completely unfamiliar with, nor did she know anything about it, other than the fact that they could, apparently, ride battle mounts into combat. Which actually sounded pretty cool, now that she thought about it. Not that the Pathfinder wasn't satisfied with her current secondary class, but still, she wouldn't have minded being a Cavalier in hindsight. So when she asked the Guardian about certain specifics, it was sort of her way of satisfying her own curiosity on the subject, as well as, perhaps, offering her help on the off chance that the stranger actually needed it. As the player explained her reasons in rather vivid detail, the Enchanter found herself thinking that, if setting out on a mission increases the horse's respect for it's master, how would such respect be calculated? When this was a game, the obvious answer would be a hidden gauge or experience bar that filled depending on how the summoner treated the horse, and decreased when mistreated. Now however, with the game having turned into a world where everything just seemed so...real, she found herself looking at behaviors not as a reactions to a pre-programmed personality or a piece of code lodged in the system, but actions that were influenced by individual emotions, unique compared to that of all other living beings. Alvina refused to believe that something so genuine and realistic could be artificially forged and imitated down to the last detail. "That's kind of interesting," she said out loud, "that horses, too, have their own feelings here. I actually never thought of summoned creatures that way, and definitely not when this was still a game." What was almost as remarkable was the Guardian's obvious care towards her steed, even though, for all she knew, her horse could be nothing more than bits of data, pixels animated for the entertainment of the masses. Rather, she treated it like how she would a breathing animal. "I'll be more than happy to," she replied, giving a slight laugh as the player offered to party up. "I wasn't getting very far on my own anyway, and a ride home would be great." Walking all the way back would have been too big of a pain in the ass, and using the Adventurer spell Call of Home felt too much like cheating, for some reason or other. Any Warrior class was ideal when partnering up with an Enchanter, so honestly, there was no reason to decline. "I should warn you though, that I'll have to level up a bit more before I get access to a healing spell. My class, however, provides pretty decent sustain, so you can spam your abilities if you like." To prove her point, the Foxtail activated Keen Edge, letting it surround the player's weapon with a slight orange light, giving it both an increased damage buff as well as slight improvements aesthetically. "Name's Alvina, nice to meet you. Now let's go find that horse." Just as she finished speaking, a figure dropped out of one of the trees nearby, giving her a start when it landed right in front of her. The newcomer seemed like another Foxtail, though her weapons, as well as their quality, hinted that she was both of a different class as well as higher-leveled than the Enchanter herself. Perhaps within the 20 to 30 range, or so? On closer inspection, however, the stranger had eight tails that billowed out behind her: Alvina herself only had one, simply because her low level would not allow anything higher. She had to be level 70, at the very least. What was such a player doing, loitering within one of the newbie zones? "Hey there," she returned the greeting, giving a slight grin. It didn't look like the player was a PKer or going to cause them harm, so she might as well be polite. "Help would be appreciated, but you'll have to ask her first." Nodding towards the Guardian, she added. "After all, it's her party." Though, personally, the veteran seemed friendly enough, and with more hands to help the easier it was going to be to accomplish their task, so she had no objections.

• 760 words • HP: 88% || MP: 92% • Mikoto Kanto Nisha • notes: Kanto, we aren't at the marketplace, so if you want to join the RP I think you'll to find a way to bring him somewhere inside the Savill Flower Grove. :) Also, apologies for the late post: midterms are upon me, and some IRL issues cropped up, so yeah. >.> Also, for the sake of the RP, just assume that for the meantime, Alvina's still at level one.

♥︎

[Mikoto]

Things had gone quickly from two of them, both low levels, to three of them. Judging by the new arrivals, could she be a new arrival she had come out of a nearby tree after all, equipment she was far higher level than the two of them. If this was a player killing she and her enchanter companion wouldn't stand much of a chance. Thankfully though this high level player didn't seem to concerned with killing them. With that relieving fact in mind she relaxed her grip behind her shield. Now she could take in the situation at hand.

Her two companions were both foxtails. One an enchanter the other appearing to be a samurai, the other heavy tank class this game had to offer. It appeared one of these two girls wasn't playing to their races strength. From what Mikoto could remember from the character creation screen foxtails were better at magical classes due to a natural affinity towards magic and a higher base MP pool. That didn't mean they couldn't play fighter classes as the high leveled samurai fox proved. Half the battle in a game like this was learning how to play ones class in their own style. On other servers she'd played mages and hid in the back casting support and offensive spells. In other games she'd been a quick moving DPS character. Here, in this game set in her homeland, she played what she thought would be best. A homage to her long dead ancestors, a guardian.

Her family had been warriors. How else would they have secured the land they now held? At one time it had been far larger. Then the monarchy changed some things and they lost a little. Then they had to sell some off and made a neat profit from it. Then the family opened up a company that still existed to this day, it no longer did what it had done at its founding, and married off daughters into money and had sons marry daughters of money themselves. Such was her eventual fate. A marriage likely not based on love and respect but for political and monetary gain. A dead from the outset marriage where she'd have to struggle to feel anything for the man she was given to most likely. In some ways she hoped they'd never get out because in this world she was her own person and no one could tell her to marry a man she barely knew and much less didn't have any feelings for. She supposed that paying homage to her ancestors had been a bit of a mistake but her ancestors were not blame for the actions her family in the present.

There new samurai friend wanted to know if they needed any help. They didn't really but would it be so bad to have a higher leveled player in the party? There was the very distinct possibility that they could aggro in some higher leveled monsters then she and the Alvina, that was the enchanters name, would be in some serious trouble. But why not. "It'd be a pleasure Ms. Samurai," she found herself saying. Internally she grimaced as she heard that honeyed tone and practiced politeness roll out of her mouth. Even here she was a slave to her upbringing as the tone and mannerisms continued, "My name is Mikoto its a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She nodded her head slightly when she finished. Internally she wondered where the average sounding persona she'd used when she'd met Alvina had gone. She hoped she didn't come off as fake. This was habit due to her upbringing.

"Shall we go ladies?" she said motioning with her shield arm. For every minute they spent standing here talking it was a minute that was spent not looking for her horse. And while it would likely be fine out here on its own for a single night she couldn't say that it was ok with her. That and something about following its large hoof prints wondering if the skittish brute was just beyond the next corner or in the next glen was somehow soothing. It was a weird feeling to be doing such a normal real world thing. Perhaps it was just that? Inside herself she wanted that feeling doing a real world task. The feeling of looking for a run away horse to bring it back to the stable. And perhaps naming this horse was another attempt to feel a connection to this world? To make it feel more real for herself.

WC: 759
TAGS: Alvina Nisha Kanto

[Nisha]

The blow from her falling down the tree was still in her bones. It was really a bad idea to jump halfway, sure she had taken no falling damage, but she was still only a normal person and any more and she would most likely have lost some hp. It was quite a favor of the gods they could not see how Nisha was shivering right now. Although her tails might give her away with how the fur was standing at ends. Or was that from Nisha lying on them? But they were so comfortable and nice that she did not ever want to give up on sleeping on them. Smiling somewhat, waiting for their replies, she took a look at them, they were definitely starting out and did not have better gear yet, although she was one to talk, not having changed anything about her character until she had hit level twenty. Well, most of her stuff was still underleveled, even if not everything anymore, she was either leveling too fast or just did not look for new stuff as much as she should, most of the items were sold right away and the unique stuff hidden away in one of her treasure places.

The only thing she was pretty proud of was her bow, slung over her shoulder and ready, that was as white as it could be and waited to be used. Nisha wondered for a moment if she should... But decided against it and said: "Thanks for having me, was getting lonely and a bit bored." She laughed with a clear voice at her own status and then bowed just a bit as well: "My name is Nisha, mind if I add you guys?" She asked and send friend requests to them both with a few strokes of her hand in the air, browsing through menus quickly and expertedly. Just thinking how she had fumbled with the menus before made her a bit embarassed, but now was not the time, a horse was running around somewhere and even though there was little more to fear but a boar or rabid bunnies, it was better if they looked for it soon. In the dark even this place transformed and several adventurers that had tried to prove something had perished in the night here. She would not want to hang around then, even though she had nothing to fear anymore from it, she definitely disliked hunting monsters while it was dark. She had done so once and stepped on her tail, the amount of brushing to get the dirt out was unreal and not a funny thing. An experience she would rather like to forget than hang on to... or experience again.

Looking at the one who was apparently the leader of this little troupe, named Mikoto, she tilted her head and smiled and said: "Nice to meet you two, I hope you will not be disappointed with me." Although it was a bit weird, Mikoto had been so polite to her that she had fallen into the same tone automatically, even though she definitely had some troubles with it since there were very small intervals inbetween words as she did. As if she was looking for the right words. Since she had come here, everyone had been either overly familiar or plain rude with her, this was quite a change, although Nisha could not decide if it was for the better or worse. Maybe something in the middle. Just a change of pace, exactly what she needed to keep her head away from weird thoughts. "Your horse, if I may ask, does it have a name yet? It would be easier, I think if we called for it by name. I have a passive skill that allows me better hearing too, so if I hear any hooves I will tell you." Although she hoped the horse would just wait for them on some clearing or at a river, the possibility was there it had run off wherever. Well, if all else failed they could still use the whistle, but Nisha would like a long walk with these two anyway. "Oh and if I may be so bold, what might be your name?" Nisha asked toward the other foxtail, eyeing her tail as if she was more interested in it instead, but smiling when she would get an answer and nodding. "So, tell me ladies, how did you lose the horse?" Her tails were shivering if because of being nervous talking like that or because she was barely holding back laughter from hearing herself speak like that... It was definitely one of them.

Words: 775
Tags: Mikoto Alvina
Weapon: Nishan(Scar)
Armor: Nishanat (Daybreak)
Accessoires: Nishani (Keepsake)

[Alvina]

sang - at - you

If you knew, knew what the Bluebirds

She was glad that Mikoto---the Guardian's name, as she had found---had agreed to let the other Foxtail join them. No matter how reasonable it was, denying somebody's help after having it offered so freely just felt rather awkward to the Enchanter. The honeyed tone however, a stark contrast to the more colloquial and open manner in which she herself had been greeted made Alvina raise an eyebrow in surprise. It was...remarkably polite, especially considering that the recipient was a random stranger and not a guest. Still, whether they knew each other or not didn't matter much, for the more hands to help, the quicker they could get things done. As the newcomer introduced herself, a notification popped up in her peripheral vision: it was a friend request. NISHA, the Enchanter read at the very top, just as the high-leveled player confirmed it in her own introduction. It was...surprising to say the least. In fact, if she accepted it, her very first friend with this character, in this new world of theirs, would be a complete stranger. Honestly, she wasn't sure how she felt about that. Still, not wanting to hurt her new companion's feelings, she focused on her status menu, pressing her finger on where the YES button would have been, if the notification were solid and not the holographic projection that it was. "My apologies, please call me Alvina," she said, giving a small, respectful nod of her head. "I hope we may get along together." Inwardly, though, she was practically stifling her laughter. Utterly bemused with how professional her companions were talking, she decided to mimic their own speech mannerisms, mostly for her own amusement. Going along with the flow promised to offer much entertainment. What Nisha said held merit, however. The horse may respond to a familiar sound, such as its own name. Mikoto obviously held much care for the animal, to go to such great lengths to bring it back safe and sound, especially since there were many other less rewarding methods of accomplishing her goal. Surely someone who treats her steed with such love had already given it a name of its own? "Unfortunately, I have no skills that would directly aid you in your endeavor," Alvina admitted, "though I can moderate your MP expenditure, should we run into any monsters that leave you all no choice but to make use of your skills." The Samurai claimed to have the Tier I ability Hearing Aptitude; if so, they were in luck, for with it one could hear sounds at a much further distance away. "Come to think of it, I do have my Pathfinder toggle skill. If need be, I can spot creatures in a larger radius than the norm." While anything she saw would have been detected by Nisha long before she could see it, Battle Perception gave valuable information such as a monster's name and level. It could be useful in preventing ambushes, if push came to shove. "I shall be ready when you are," she smiled, her fox-liked ears twitching in eagerness. It wasn't a quest, per say, but it was a goal that they had to accomplish, and such familiarity brought back memories of previous times, where she would sit in front of a monitor and game all night long. The thrill of battle, the anticipation of facing an adversary, of fighting beside others who shared the same passions...this was very much different, and yet close enough that she would enjoy partaking in it. By then, the cooldown on Keen Edge had lifted, and she cast the damage increasing buff on the Samurai this time around, at the bow slung behind her back, watching it light up with the all too familiar golden glow. When asked about how the Guardian managed to lose her horse, she cracked a large smirk, on the verge of giggles at the hilarity of the memory. "Simply put, that mount of hers wasn't quite ready to face the dangers of facing such ferocious predators and fled...at the sight of a rabbit," she quipped, ditching the formal tone for a more sardonic one. Mikoto would likely have to increase her subclass experience by quite a bit, before she would be able to ride into battle. Talking about AP..."Aren't you going to reduce your level?" she asked, turning towards the other Foxtail on the team. "I'm pretty much unable to support you, with this big of a level gap. Not to mention that you would aggro monsters of a level far higher than either Mikoto's or mine." It was growing dark, and Alvina wasn't quite ready to chance facing any high-leveled mobs under such dim conditions. At this rate, they would be nothing but burdens to the experienced player.

• 796 words • HP: 100% || MP: 89% • Mikoto Nisha Kanto • notes: Apologies about the substandard post. I'll do a much better one next time, hopefully! >.<

♥︎

[Mikoto]

Taking a step past the one named Nisha she kneeled and placed a hand into a slowly fading hoof print. Letting her eyes trace upwards in the direction the hooves ran she nods to herself. Standing she pulls the cracked and battered long sword, a paltry replacement for a more refined cavalry sword, from its equally marred and tattered sheath. Equally between it her shield and terribly mis-sized body armor she was barely capable of driving off anything over several levels higher than her own. There was a smaller, well larger problem, to consider as the enchanter Alvina had just brought up. Their samurai friend was massively higher in levels. So much so that for them to travel with her would be near suicide without an also more leveled healer. Even still with a high level healer it would be dangerous for two very low leveled players to engage vastly higher leveled enemies.

Turning her attention back to the other two girls she smiles brightly before speaking, "I do believe my horse has run off in this direction." Turning back in the direction the hoof prints and torn sod indicated she begins walking. "He has no name as of yet. I've not decided what name suits him best yet. He's a bay colored brute of roughly eighteen hands high with black feathers about his feet," she described as she walked. It'd be fairly obvious when they found. He was a big brute and there were no horse type monsters that she knew of. There was always the chance that they'd discover a new monster today as well.

WC: 267

((claimed to this post 8/18/15))

[Nisha]

Nisha looked at her two new party members and friends on her list and when it had been she had become good enough to skillfully send out invites. The loner she had been was now someone with a list full of people she considered friends and many more she had only met, but had liked anyways. And liking she did these two already as well, even if how they had talked was weird, it seemed that it was only a temperory measure after all and they both had dropped the overly polite tune. Nisha´s brow furrowed a bit, still wanting to giggle while her mouth quivered from barely contained down so, only nodding as she was spoken to for now. Yes, she could still hear the horse and would have made the other two hurry up more if she did not know that the horse was either waiting or moving very slowly. But she already enjoyed the company, so she hoped they would forgive her if she stalled a little bit. As she heard that she was still too high a level, her quivering lip vanished and was replaced by a surprised face. Ah, right, there was something like that. "Oh, I am sorry, I was just lost in our conversation a little, as well as surprised that a cavalier lost her horse, but it´s a fixable thing. Both of these." Her smile was bright as she waved in the air again, expertedly once more settling her level to the lowest one. Another thing she had come to learn and employ so often she had some skill in flicking it around. "A horse with no name, I see. It is not unusual since it is only a game around us, but with all that has happened I think it is better if you start to settle a bit and put a name to what is precious to you."

Her smile was now gentle as she looked toward Mikoto, slowly starting to walk backwards, her tails wagging slowly with her light step as she did. But really, a horse running away because of a rabbit, huh? Well, in the end it was still a game and even creatures of the land had the smallest of aggro so it would not be weird that if Mikoto had gotten a somewhat more fearful steed that it had run away. "I see, that is quite unfortunate, but I bet once you start to train it, it will become as fearless as it´s owner. Haha, it definitely feels like a quest now. As for my skills, they lay sadly enough far outside the range of being able to help with anything but battle, my trusty bow, sword and grimoire at your service if you should need it as well as some nice spells like heal, as for regulating mana, I guess that would make you an enchanter Alvina? Sometimes it is nice to be able to help which is why I try to do so often." Nisha had a little thinking motion on her face as she had now said both their names, she had a little quirk where she wanted to give everyone she met a nickname of some sort, but these two were tought customers for that endeavour and so Nisha would take her time a bit more, as always it would come to her at the right time. "As for bigger monster, you do not have to worry, the highest we could run into would be the boss of this area and I already beat it up once although it ran before I could land the finishing blow." Well, it was not the whole story since she had not even really wanted to do as such, but the screams of a party of players had woken her from her slumber as they had tried to take on the much higher monster. Beyond that, there were mostly only boards and other lowest level creatures around, even though their sheer amount could drive lower levels against the wall. "Well, follow me and I will trust you to look at tracks Alvina, since many monsters around this area have adapted to hiding and being quiet and the hearing skill is not without fault."

Words: 702
Tags: Mikoto Alvina
Weapon: Nishan(Scar)
Armor: Nishanat (Daybreak)
Accessoires: Nishani (Keepsake)