Gotta Exorsise 'em All!!! [Hirosame/Fernweh/Combat]

[Izo]

Izo walked through the open plains just before the Northern Marshlands with his trusty mace and shield sheathed, his golden hair flowing in the afternoon breeze. He looked around at the environment and took a deep breath as he sat down against the tree. He had responded to a party post on the meeting board back in town and he made sure to get there early, just to ensure he wasn't tardy. If there was one thing Izo hated most, it was being late for something, especially in games. He sat and waited, taking in his new reality. It was strange how his life revolved around work, his fiance and video games and now here he was, trapped in on of the places he only dreamed was possible. Izo chuckled, thanking the developer that the game was at least first person and made movements as you'd make them. a third person game would get really boring really quickly.

He grabbed his mace and shield, taking a few practice swings to test the weight on both of them. Izo always played tanks, from his first video game till now. He would rather lead and protect others than watch them be hurt. He stood with his shield still equip, his mace hanging on his belt, humming a tune to himself as he waited for his party members to arrive. He continued to look towards the horizon, still amazed at how realistic this new world looked to him. The only thought that went through his mind was when he’d be able to see his love again.

[Hirosame]

Hiro casually strolled up towards the entrance of the marshes, finding himself on a plain of some sort. It was one of the few times that he had been in this place, so he wasn't super used to it quite yet, despite being the level he was. He remembered a quest which he had done not too long ago with a girl, who shouted at goblins and kicked them in their special zones in order to be rid of them. Hiro sighed for a moment, before chuckling about it. He let the moment pass, and continued along his way, towards the rendezvous point. He wasn't super excited about being a lower level, but it should help him out with his secondary class. He needed to increase his level in that, before he could start casting fire from his hands. At least, that's what he hoped he could do soon.

So as time went on and the further he walked in, he noticed how nice a day it was, and how it was going to abruptly change very quickly. The marshes were known for being of the most dark and depressing places for players to be, and he had no real idea as to why he wanted to be there for the time being. But, a quest was a quest, and experience is experience. He needed one to get the other, or did the other need him to get the first? Was it really a good time to be asking himself a question like that? Or was he just actually quite tired? He didn't really know, after having not gotten all that much sleep the night before. He was used to it, though, since this game made you feel more tired than one normally would. And this was the honest to god truth about things. Whatever. He was tired. I'm tired. Everyone's tired.

But whatever! Quest time! He should be a bit more up beat about the whole thing, despite his tired state. This was a bit off of his normal character to be in such a standing. He'd soon turn back to normal, once he arrived at the rendezvous point. He looked around himself, and very quickly realized that he had reached the point to which he needed to be at already. He saw a blonde-haired man sitting nearby, with a mace and a shield as his weapons. He assumed that this was one of the people that he would need to be on this quest with. He gave a slight nod, before finding a place to settle himself down as well. He figured he'd go ahead and introduce himself, but that wouldn't make too much sense right then and there. He'd wait for the other man to introduce himself first, not really wanting to be Captain Manners right now. Instead, he found a place on the grass, and laid down. He stretched himself out, and would wait a little while before someone else showed up. They'd show up eventually, he figured, and just let himself take a small nap for the time being.

[Fernweh]

Fernweh leaned back and let out a long yawn, causing his ears and his tail to stand on edge for a moment before drooping back to their usual position. It was a weekend, why was he out here doing a quest… Or was it the weekend? To be entirely honest, the poor Fox Tail had lost all sense of time upon finding himself in this world. Things became complicated, choices were made, quests were rushed into, and many, many naps were interrupted by that harpy that was his friend’s sister. –All she does is poke me. Over and over….- he grumbled to himself, kicking a small stone on the path.

As he watched it wind its way further along the path, Fernweh couldn’t help but find it similar to the world’s current predicament. No one knew what was happening, no one really had any plans, and they just had the general outline of their direction. –We’re just like this pebble- he thought with a smirk, giving it a nice kick again, sending it spiraling off the path and into the brush beyond. –Huh, bit of a dark omen right there though…-

Stuck in thought for a moment, a small thudding sound could be heard from behind him. Realizing what it was in a sole moment, Fernweh turned around to find his golem chasing after him, albeit at a slow pace. The summoner had nearly forgotten he had summoned it back when he had left town, in hopes of perhaps gaining a bit of experience along the way. Crouching down so he was closer to its level, he rubbed its head. “You’ve been a trooper mate, I’m sorry I almost forgot about you,” he apologized. Truth be told, he had no idea if the golem was actually alive. Perhaps it was just moving by his will and nothing more. Still, it gave him a bit of self-gratification that he was at least commending his little companion, even if it didn’t understand any of it.

The golem had been a recent skill accusation, one he had yet to actually get to use in combat. Fernweh had heard they made excellent body guards, along with being relatively bad companions. Though that was to people who disliked quiet, stoic things, something that was entirely the opposite of the summoner’s view. To him they were beings of honor and awe, just like mountains were. –Only difference is that these guys are small and move- he thought with a small chuckle to himself, and returning to his path. Truth be told, Fernweh rather enjoyed the quite companion over a loud one.

In a couple of minutes the land began to change, trees gradually shifting to a more… ghastly appearance. Perhaps it was just him, perhaps not. Regardless, many of the creatures dwelling inside posed little threat to him by this point in time. Yet caution saved many a person, and becoming careless due to one’s pride would be an extremely sad way to go he noted as he made out a couple of figures near the tree line. With a slight wave, he made his way over with golem in tow.

Word Count: 525

[Izo]

Izo watched quietly as the first man joined him at the meeting point, the man sporting no weapon. He must be a monk. Izo thought to himself, pressing his fingers together and swiping them in front of him to bring up his menu. Izo pressed his finger over the brown haired monk, another menu appearing before Izo's eyes. He moved his menu windows around to make his field of vision clearer as he started to walk over to the man who had now laid down. Izo always seemed to be the one who started the formalities in games, and in reality. His character looked exactly like himself in reality, which often left some intimidated due to his appearance looking similar to a mob boss. He chuckled at the thought as a memory of one of his first meetings with his CEO left the man speechless as he entered the room.

If there was one thing Izo demanded from people, it would be respect. He’d worked too hard to deserve anything else. In this new world though, Izo was going to have to re-earn that demand all over again. Izo invited the brown haired monk to a party, bowing as he introduced himself. “My name is Izo; I assume you are one of the two people who also responded to the quest?” It was strange for one to assume in Izo’s mind. Nothing he’d ever done was based on assumptions, but here he had to tread carefully. One enemy in a world where you need to rely on others could cause him to fall short of his long term goals quite fast. As Izo introduced himself to the monk, he heard another approaching, a Fox tail with a golem following close behind him.

‘So we have a summoner, a monk and a guardian. Seems like a good composition.’ Izo thought to himself, clicking on the summoner and inviting him to join his party as well. Izo was pleased that the others had made good time, so he wasn’t waiting around forever. Izo began to think of what the quest entailed, as it took place way out in the swamp. He opened his quest journal and began to skim through the quest, looking for the objective. Apparently they were out here to kill Possessed Stumps for an NPC Priest who wanted their ectoplasms. Izo sat and waited for his party members to accept their party requests and begin their quest.

words :408

[Hirosame]

Hiro gave a small bow and a smile, returning the gaze from his soon-to-be partner in this quest. "Pleasure to meet you, Izo. Name's Hirosame, but by all means, just call me Hiro." He grinned a bit more, before turning towards the marshes. He cringed a little bit, hopefully unnoticed by his ally. Being a fairly high leveled didn't mean that he liked all the areas to which the players could go. Hiro never enjoyed marshes, not even in the real world. He really disliked all the squishing ground, as well as all the mud that ensued. Despite that, a quest was a quest, and he had to be there in order to get the experience. He let out a small sigh, accepting the fact that he would need to have done this quest eventually anyways.

It was about at this time that Hiro noticed a rather familiar person walking towards the duo. The summoner, who Hiro had had the privilege of questing with before, was none other than Fernweh. Hiro was rather glad to see the man, since he had not been in the same place for quite some time. The last time that Hiro remembered seeing the summoner is when they were both stuck in that citadel and forced to fight a large number of monsters. He sighed for a moment, before nodding to the summoner and greeting him in the same way he had greeted the guardian. "Hey Fernweh, good to see you once again!" Hiro turned the other way, looking at the marsh again, before squinting. He turned to the other two which were now at his left side, needing to ask a very important question. "So, what're we fighting today? And how much of them are we fighting?"

[Fernweh]

Finally making his way up to the group Fernweh killed the stream of mana to his golem and watched as crumbled to the ground, lifeless. It was sad, bringing something to life only to know that it was undoubtedly created to die. Maybe that was why he kept the skill on as long as he thought reasonable, as in till he recently arrived at the destination. Mana is valuable after all; to run out in a time of need because one was feeling sentimental would be a pathetic event to pass.

Shaking off his sentimental attachments to the now inanimate pile of stone, Fernweh’s ears perked up to the sound of his name being called out. –Ah, boss is already here- he thought with another yawn escaping his mouth. He and Hirosame had been through some interesting stuff awhile back, especially a rather complicated incident inside a certain building. Ever since then they had become close enough that he had been asked to be a founding member of Hiro’s guild, though it would be a bit of a stretch to call it such. After all, founding member meant that he should have had some important role in creating it. His real role in the end, being the extra guy to help out and allow for the guild’s official creation. Fernweh hadn’t minded being used as such though, as it allowed for him to keep his current schedule of randomly wandering the city and the area beyond without feeling tied to any sense of real duty. Well, except for specific times like this when he was called upon.

Raising his right hand up, the Fox Tail gave a weak salute to his friend, “Yo Boss, it has been a long time. You seem to be doing well enough though, so what did you drag me out here for exactly?” Drag wasn’t exactly the appropriate term, though it fit Fernweh’s mood quite well. The summoner wasn’t exactly combat oriented after all; he specialized in scanning the area and noting areas of interest. Hopefully at some point he’d even manage to create some extensive maps for future use seeing as mini-maps are blacked out until it is personally observed.

Turning to face the other member of the group, Fernweh opened his menu to find a party invite in the pending state. –Must have missed it when I was yawning earlier, hope he doesn’t think I was just ignoring him…- Then again, his jocular tone with Hiro should have been proof enough that he had no ill intentions here. Grinning a bit, he acknowledged the man, “Hey sorry about that mate, I’m Fernweh but you can call me Fern. Or summoner. Or that Fox Tail bastard. Whatever suits your fancy really. Hiro here is actually the leader of the guild I’m in so I can’t help but give him hell,” he added with a small laugh.

“So, let’s get the basics out of the way. What’s your name and what brings us to this… lovely location?”

Word Count: 502