A Beautiful Display [Apocrypha/Event/OPEN]

[Hirosame]

Hiro walked through the street of London, looking up to the sky, waiting expectantly for the fireworks to begin soon. He sighed a bit, realizing that it was still maybe 2 hours before they would begin, checking the clock to the bottom right of his field of vision. It held the information for in-game time, which only made a difference to him. Since in-game days went by incredibly quickly, these two hours turned into something like a half an hour in real-time. He looked back towards the busy road ahead, and let the people pass him by, making his way slowly through the crowded streets. He looked up to the upper right-hand side to see an emblem there, and nearly jumped, until he remembered that that emblem was the emblem for his new guild, Apocrypha.

Hiro gave a sigh of relief, and looked back to the road, chuckling at his misgiving. He felt somewhat stupid for doing such a thing, since he had just made the guild not all that long ago. He had invited two friends of his into the guild, and another friend of his joined up not too long after the creation. He wasn't sure as to whether or not the guild would reach any great heights, but even still, it was going to be a guild that would expand further than the others that had popped up sporadically. Renai had actually made a guild of his own, which Hiro found somewhat odd. Renai didn't seem the kind of person to do such a thing, yet there it was. He shrugged it off eventually, and thought of it himself not that long after. Thus, Apocrypha was born.

Hiro was to meet up with Midori, his friend and co-leader of the guild, here soon. They figured that they would attend the event together, as a commemoration of the formation of their guild or something to that effect. He couldn't help but invite the entire guild, as well, despite the fact that it was only 4 people altogether. However, if people saw the emblem and decided to join up themselves, then he couldn't really argue with them. There wasn't really a requirement or process for one to join the guild, so long as they weren't going to be a dick or just someone who is overall annoying or disruptive to the guild. He chuckled to himself again, seeming a little weird to the people nearby him, as he arrived at the rendezvous point. He turned around, and began to wait patiently for his guild to show up. He still wasn't used to referring to it as "his guild," but he'd get used to it eventually. He was sure of it.

[Midori]

So, there was originally a more serious post that was supposed to take place rather than this replacement. There was also supposed to be a post template as well! But who cares about that, it's just extra stuff that will probably be edited in a little while anyway! So, what was Midori doing here, sitting on a park bench, looking at the description for a firework? By the way, the firework's description is something like "Fireworks made from mana fragments for the sake of the Chinese New Year event. Light them up and fire!" But of course, don't fire it at other people. That would be dangerous, and NPC Guards dressed in Dragon Dance costume will arrive and parade all over you. Speaking of which, because the firework automatically goes off as soonas you exit the festival premises, there had been a group of crafters camping out in another section trying to research how these fireworks were made. They definitely weren't player-made, but they seemed to have concepts that were common to crafts that many other Adventurers had made. But if you want to get into the details, go find a research thread. This post is definitely not taking the concept seriously enough to actually explain a possible theory.

Why was there a Chinese New Years event in this land when it was supposed to be a place in Great Britain? It didn't really matter, considering that Red Envelopes were to be given out as rewards for attending the event. By the way, for those of you who aren't familiar with the Chinese/Vietnamese tradition of giving fancy red envelopes, it was pretty much a time of money giving to friends and family, wishing them good luck. If you were part of such a family, it wouldn't be surprising for you to receive at least $200 from your relatives. It didn't matter if you were just a kid either. Get a red envelope and boom, $20. Of course, this was pretty much testimony from her Chinese and Vietnamese friends, so those of you who are of that ethnicity yet don't celebrate such a thing should not send me PMs asking where your money is. Send that PM to Saber instead. Speaking of which, the Japanese were supposed to follow a similar tradition during the regular New Years season, but her family was pretty much whitewashed so the only money she would receive was usually from overseas relatives.

Anyway, another reason why she was here. Hiro had recently established a guild, and by establishing a guild, it was more like being Level 15 and grabbing a bunch of people from the friend list to join the makeshift guild. The original idea was not to create a super powerful guild that would conquer the land, but to just recreate that small group they had back in Mabinogi. True to that name, the guild emblems were a throwback to the MMO. It was an emblem split down the middle, with half of the emblem being a ribbon-adorned sun and half of the emblem being a star-embedded moon. I would draw a picture right now, but I just recently lost this post a few minutes ago, after all. Just take a look at the thread in the guild center and picture the emblem being half of the two icons displayed.

Stay tuned to find out who the next two members of the guild are! I'm running out of time to make this post and my hands are freezing, so that's the end of this exposition.

[Kazuko]

Well this had been quite the eventful evening so far for a certain young female adventurer. It already had been a long trying to get everyone organized for the day’s events but by far the most draining had been the time she spent with a very nice bartender. The truth was the small child was still trying to sober up from the experience; at least she had two hours to go before the fireworks event started. Since there was some time before her shift was supposed to start again Kazuko decided to head to grounds early and take a nap or something while waiting for the alcohol to leave her system. “That weird man though back there still scares me a bit." She muttered to herself with a shiver.



Reaching the base of the stage Kazuko clumsily sat down at the base of the small stairs leading to the open stage that would contain the night’s celebrations. Through drooping blurry eyes the young shaman thought for a moment she saw a familiar face before quickly chalking it to being tired and a little drunk still. “Just a short nap shouldn’t cause any problems." She quietly murmured her eyes finally drifted close, but in the back of her mind was still nagging thoughts of scary men still wandering around tonight. As long as she was awake she was confident that nobody would try something, her being in charge of the festival and being a shaman with a highly effective skill for those looking to cause trouble.



Startled awake by the growing sound of people gathering together Kazuko opened one first about half way before the second one followed suit as well. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes the young shrine maiden placed her hands on both knees and slowly rose to her feet, at least she seemed cognizant only now she felt a pounding pain behind her eyes and forehead. “Never again. Never again am I going to drink that much anytime soon, well at least until next year I guess and by that time Elk will hopefully be able to make shipments to my shrine." She mused quietly to herself imagining her secluded shrine out in secluded England somewhere that hopefully contained a sufficient hill to use as well.



Anyway after pulling herself from her inner thoughts and future dreams Kazuko reached into her pockets to retrieve the all-too-familiar documents she’d been carrying around all day. “Alright so the red fireworks should go here, the blue ones over there, the gold and silver ones can be in the middle here." She began speaking to herself as a single finger traced over a map one of the festival’s scribes had drawn and was walking the length of the stage with her head constantly moving from the parchment to the ground in front of her. “These ones should be launched first, then we can do these two at the same time, this one over here would look best alone but following some smaller ones…..But what should I do with the mages doing their show? Hopefully the guy over there can handle it." She went on again, her voice gaining a sense of nervousness as she approached a part of the festivities she wasn’t comfortable with.

Word Count: 543

[Fernweh]

Fernweh yawned, cocking his head back into a feline-like stretch as he made his way through the crowded streets. As usual, the habit caught him slightly by surprise with his new features. Fox ears and a fox tail were the traits of a Fox Tail, something that took no brain to realize, but ever since he was trapped here he couldn’t help but feel like it was affecting some of his normal behaviors. Regardless of how hard he tried, Fernweh couldn’t shake the feeling that he never use to yawn like this. Then again, it wasn’t like someone normally took note of how they yawn until they have ears and a tail that stands on end suddenly…

Regardless, the Fox Tail enjoyed the new features. Life was odd, strange, and confusing. The fact he was trapped here in this body was just another example of it. Yet if fate decided it would give him a body with a tail and ears then why not enjoy it? Not to mention, though he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, scratching his head while he was thinking was now infinitely more enjoyable than before the Catastrophe. –Damn ears make this addicting…- Fernweh grumbled under his breath.

Speaking of odd, a Chinese New Year celebration in London was an interesting decision. Fernweh couldn’t help but wonder what would have caused them to choose such an event to take place here, conceivably half a world away from the only place to celebrate it. There was a chance that it was just the programmers having originated there and deciding to use their customs for events but still Fernweh couldn’t shake the thought of how unusual of a choice it was. There was even a chance that the People of the Land had decided to do it themselves, or always had. Which begged the question, was this really Elder Tale?

Fernweh sighed and shook his head for a moment as though to physically throw the thought from his mind. This was a festival and a festival demands one enjoy themselves and forget their troubles for a while, not dwell on thoughts that may hamper one’s enjoyment. –Speaking of enjoyment…- the Fox Tail realized after a second, -where the hell is the rest of the guild?- They were supposed to be meeting up for a tiny guild celebration, enjoy some drinks, and get to know each other better. Then again, with only four members every celebration would be small he realized with a grin as he went to take a sip from the cub he’d been carrying.

“Tsk, empty already?” he whined, looking at the dry cup. He had only gotten it a few minutes ago, had he spilled some somewhere? Or had he had it for a while… Fernweh couldn’t recall anymore. –Perhaps I’ve had a bit more than I intended…- he realized, with a sly, almost childish, grin. It was a festival, drinking a bit too much couldn’t hurt, he rationalized as he purchased four from a nearby stall. When the guild finally met up, Fernweh hoped to share a drink with them in celebration after all.

Word Count: 520

[Hirosame]

Humming lightly to himself a song that he had heard from an old television show, Hiro continued walking down the streets. He watched as little kids ran by, with little sparkling wands, chasing one another. They had masks on them, like that of ancient Chinese gods and figures. Hiro smiled and laughed as they ran by, then looking towards the road again. He thought back to the real world, remembering how he was originally part of a culture close to this one in essence. Japan  wasn't all that different from China, save for a few things like language and writing styles. The customs weren't the same either, but they were still looked to as Asian cultures, often compared to when people think of anime or manga as well. He sighed a bit, thinking back to his family. Not the one under which he lived presently, but his actual, blood-related parents.

Being a Japanese boy in a land of the English wasn't easy for him, not in the slightest. Being the adopted child to a European family, and being put into a private school along with his older sister put him, as well as her, in a bit of an awkward situation. There had been rumors of them being blood related, and that their family was impure. There were even a few rumors that they weren't actually related, and Hiro had just been put into the family as a sign of good nature between an English and Japanese noble family union thing. There was one that died off quickly, but it went that Hiro and his sister were actually dating, but were under the guise of family, so as to not draw attention to themselves. This was very easily dismissed, as Hiro and his sister never once spoke to one another, outside of certain situations.

Having gotten lost in his mind, he looked up and noticed one of the people that he was supposed to meet up with this evening: Midori. She was just standing there, holding her hands, as if she were cold. She looked like she had just finished snickering about something, too, and Hiro  felt that maybe she was a little off that evening. He cocked his head to the side slightly, but walked over to her either way. He replaced the confused look with a simple smile, and placed his hand on her shoulder. He nodded to his co-leader, and grinned. "Evening, Midori." He began. He wanted to do the Kiraboshi move, but it didn't feel like the right time for it. "Have you been waiting long?" Hiro asked her, having not seen her for a little while. Taking his hand off her shoulder, he turned to the sky, looking up at the stars again. "Beautiful night, isn't it? Great for a fireworks display, huh?"

[Midori]

Oh well. No need to use the post template after all, it's too much trouble. Especially since the first post was already not very serious in context, it would have been fairly difficult to return to a normal posting style. It was probably possible to return to the regular standard of detail, but that wouldn't be very fun for our readers. I'm convinced that the people who read my posts are either 1) the other people in the thread, 2) people grading AP claims, 3) people who like to read 4th wall breaking posting styles, or 4) Blood.

Anyway, at the moment that Hiro had arrived on the scene, she had reimagined that sight of an NPC Guard dressed in a dragon dance costume. It would be so ridiculous that dying to such a sight would almost have been worth it. The sight had given her a slight smirk on her face, but there was no snickering in sight. Not even Crunch. Maybe Hiro misinterpreted the signature banner at the bottom of this page as part of the previous post. Regardless, she rubbed her hands together in an attempt to warm them. It was then that Narrator realized that the post template held Touko's fairly complicated speech color, so for the purposes of this thread, it will simply have to be lime. Looks a bit bright though.

"I actually only just arrived. And besides, Chinese New year is not really a fireworky type of holiday. It's more loud like firecrackers apparently." She then pointed toward other figures in the near distance. "Meanwhile, I just noticed that Kazuko's over there and there's that random fourth person who signed up for the guild a little while ago." Because who needs to spend another posting cycle doing introductions? "I was wondering whether it's possible that we can research how these fireworks are made so we can make some for ourselves. It can be something to do for later though, let's just have fun and try it out."

This post is too short. Extended introductions are the worst. Let's add something more.

"It seems that it's getting a little late that some of the festival stalls are starting to close, so do you think we should check them out before trying out the fireworks? It might be a good idea to grab some food in the meantime too. There's a lot of Chinese dishes that they usually never serve even in local buffets." Moon Cakes in particular. Have you ever tried this Eastern pastry-like food that tastes sweet despite having meat as part of the main ingredients? It tended to sell for an extremely high price per Moon Cake. She had a slight desire to not only try it, but also trying some of the desserts available as well.

[Kazuko]

With a deep sigh Kazuko hung her upper body forward letting her arms dangle momentarily. Standing straight again the young folded the sheets up neatly again before returning them to the inventory space of her pockets. With the scheduled time drawing closer it seemed this setup was going to be the best the shrine maiden could manage in advance. Grabbing a sparkler out of the box of evening fireworks Kazuko sat down on the steps once more and began gently swirling it back and forth around in the air to form imaginary patterns in the air. In a small tightly clenched fist the girl also held a tiny pack of matches, something she was told by the festival chair that to always have someone close to items of interest and means to activate them close to your person.



“I wonder if the rest of my guild is around here somewhere enjoying the festival, I thought I saw one of them earlier." She spoke softly muttering to herself. Tilting her head to the fox-tail girl rested a cheek in her hand, the sparkler nestled in between the girl’s fingers where it was able to be out of the way and not poke her out or something. Breathing a sigh a sight of a male adventurer with twitching fox ears and tail crossed her vision in the crowd. He caught her attention because he seemed to be enamored by his new features which either meant he was new or he was the person Kazuko knew from before. “Hey Fernweh over here!" Calling after the man as she stood up on the stairs to make herself more visible.



If the man happened to hear her and come over to her that would they only had their two guild leaders left to find before they were all together for the show. It had been awhile though since she had seen any of them at all though, with the exception of Midori who the girl had seen when she was making the request to join Apocrypha. She would’ve liked to spend more time with those people but they’ve been pretty driven to make something called an “Airship Eor something, and object that Kazuko would really like but she understood there were a lot more closer things in her priorities that needed her attention first. Toward the top of this was raising her skill as a shaman and priestess, and to raise enough money to request her very own shrine to be built. When those were met hopefully her guild mates would take her aboard with them to see the sites and find a suitable building location.



Enough of that though, this isn’t a story about planning a religious pilgrimage it’s a story about having a unique holiday in Elder Tale and enjoying traditions not typically found in the actual festival that they were celebrating. “I wonder if those little red envelopes got carried into the game as well." Kazuko smiled to herself as she drew pictures in the dirt with the stick end of the sparkler.

Word Count: 511

[Fernweh]

Fernweh was so far off in his own world the chirping of the younger Fox Tail had almost missed him entirely. –Was that… Um… Shit whose voice is that…- he tried to recall for a moment, the alcohol obviously beginning to take a slightly greater effect on his cognitive and comprehensive functions. It was definitely someone he knew, she was short and a shaman. Not to mention she was a member of the guild. –Wait, guild?!- he realized, his mind grasping the identity in an instant as the mental image of the adventurer finally came into focus.

“Kazuko! Kazuko where are you!” the summoner shouted out into the crowd, looking for signs of the little shaman. Waiting a moment for a reply it seemed like the crowd was getting louder in response to his shouting. –Oh come on people, just back off for a bit and let me find my guildmates.- Higher ground would be needed, he determined after a moment as his slightly intoxicated mind took command of the situation. Making his way to the edge of a crowd, Fernweh focused on drawing from his mana pool before mumbling, “Summon golem,” bringing to life a mound of stone from the street.

“Look, I need you to hold these for me while I go look for Kazuko,” he commanded the little follower, handing it the four cups, “so be sure not to spill them okay? Those are going to be the first drinks I share with the crew.” Pausing for a moment, Fernweh waited to see if the mass of stone made any indication of understanding, to which none was made. Sighing, he assumed he would just have to hope for the best while he climbed up a mountain of crates on a corner of two streets.

After a few moments of climbing, in which several near-death experiences were felt, Fernweh reached the top of the nearly four meter tall mountain of wooden crates. Shaking his amazement at all the food that had to be sold to make the mountain of crates, he racked his mind for ways to communicate with the guildmate. –I was almost certain she’d be up somewhere high after that quest I had with her…- It had been one of the most distinguishing features of that short time, the young girl climbing up a tree in order to better her position to engage the targets on the ground. It was smart, but kind of unique and unorthodox. After all, Fernweh had managed to achieve the same sort of security while hiding behind the trunks of trees. Then again, there were not many classes that allowed for such actions like summoner did.

Yawning, and wishing he had brought his drink up here with him, the Fox Tail began to slowly lose focus on searching for the young girl before he finally decided on one final attempt. Standing up on the highest crate, Fernweh cupped his hands together and flattened his ears to his head before shouting, “KAZUKO I’M UP HERE! I CAN’T FIND YOU ANYWHERE!”

Dropping back down with a solid thud, the adventurer felt winded and lightheaded. At this point it was up to the young girl to find him. –Maybe she could grab me one of the drinks my golem is holding down there for me…- he hoped, noticing the golem out of the corner of his eye.

Word Count: 564

[Hirosame]

There she goes again, as Hiro's rather optimistic expression turned into that of a slightly irritated one. He had completely forgotten how much Midori could be a bit of a buzzkill sometimes. Here he was, trying to just enjoy the evening, and there she goes with the facts. He sighed a bit, not loud enough to be heard, and just accepted it. This is who she was, and it is who she is. Despite doing this on a regular basis, and killing a lot of things with facts, Midori was still one of Hiro's closest friends. Of course he thought that she was intelligent and crafty, as that would go without saying after having talked to her for a short while. But, what most other people don't see, or don't get to see, is how she actually is around her usual compatriot of friends. She tends to hide it, but she can actually be a bit silly at times.

Hiro chuckled as he thought of an occasion on Mabinogi, the game that they had come from, when she had gotten recognition from one of the other players for selling an incredible amount of a certain in-game food, garlic. It even went far enough to make an impression on someone in the forums, so much so that they had to comment about it. It didn't get that far into the community, but it was still hilarious enough as it was. She had shown Hiro a picture of the occasion, or at least attempted to show him, but couldn't find the picture. She had a shop stall open, selling about 2000 chunks of garlic or something to that effect. It just made a big impression on one person, and it caused Hiro to laugh about it for a little while. Hiro had made some sort of a vampire joke about it, but he had forgotten what it was completely about already.

"Yeah, I can imagine us being able to figure out how to make our own fireworks." Hiro said, in response to her question. "We could also probably find a way to make them explode into the Solstice and Asterial Age emblems, too!" He chuckled a bit at that, as if he were pretending that Apocrypha were some huge deal. He then listened to Midori's suggestion about checking out some of the other stalls. It was pretty much at that moment, when she had finished speaking, that his stomach started to grumble. He hadn't eaten anything since lunch, and he was certainly feeling the effects of that. He laughed innocently, and nodded, looking to his friend. "Lead on, Midori. You'd probably notice something sooner than I would, anyways." Hiro knew almost nothing about Chinese foods, let alone Japanese. The mentioning of food was enough to make him want to get something in his stomach, so it would shut up finally. But, Midori was right, and they had some time before the fireworks, or firecracker show, so they might as well do something in the meantime. He nodded to her again, and just had begun to follow Midori as she went along the street, visiting the stalls as they went along.

[528 words.]

[Midori]

The Mabinogi event described above had actually been a bit of a favor shown to some of the other players in the game. There was one particular quest during a new expansion that required around 20 Garlics in order to complete. Of course, Garlic wasn't sold in local shops and therefore if one wasn't adequately prepared, it would require a trip back to the main town to pick them up. It was simply a bit of an inconvenience, so she had decided to open up a shop to sell the respective Garlics in the village itself, without any intention at profit. So if anything, it was just a bit of generosity on her part, even though some random guy had decided to buy most of that Garlic for who knows whatever reason.

Additionally! One could say that on the topic of buzzkill, Hiro would also occasionally suggest multiplayer online battle arena games for the rest of the group to play for hours back in the old world, which usually led her to spend those hours doing random stuff like drawing or playing some online MMOs in the meantime. In fact, it wasn't often that they played too many games together between the multiple rounds of- Oh wait. Narrator just received a request for a online "chess-like browser game." Please wait a couple minutes before the rest of the post is written. Okay, maybe it wasn't just a couple minutes but actually an hour. In the meantime when Narrator was learning how to play some kind of game, Midori decided to take control of the post's progression. The rest of this post will be in first-person thoughts unless mentioned otherwise.

It seemed that those two weren't Kazuko and that random guy after all. It was a person in a similar costume as the priestess, and I really don't remember what the random person looked like other than a vague hairstyle. "That would be a really flashy way to advertise our guild. I actually want to try to do that, but I'm not sure whether the publicity is enough for us to handle on our own." Not to mention that big guilds weren't our thing either. Such an ambitious idea was usually left to Jeisea whenever we ever do something guild-related. "All right then. Let's see what the stalls are selling..."

"First, we have Moon Cakes." I think it was already explained, but Moon Cakes were pastries filled with sweet bean paste. The ones they're selling right here have some yolk in it too, while the ones over there have pork. In fact, this entire aisle seems to be filled with Moon Cake stalls.

"There's one of my favorites over there, pork buns." Pork buns could be described as similar to soft dough dumplings, with a sweet and salty BBQ pork filling. The stall over there's selling half a dozen for only 20 gold! That's a pretty fair price.

"Oh, and these are special candy boxes. There's a bunch of edible seeds, candied tangerines, coconut flakes, and a couple other candies as well. Do you see anything you like?" Although, given how much Hiro's been on the training grounds recently, the price for food here probably would have been cheap enough to buy out most of a single aisle. 

[Kazuko]

Kazuko continued to sit there on her lonely step for what felt like several minutes. She had called out to her newest friend and guild mate so why hadn’t he come over? Was he ignoring her or had a terrible sense of direction perhaps? Whatever the case was the girl was getting tired of doing nothing and sitting here waiting for people to stop by. This was a festival to be enjoyed to the fullest and if no one wanted to celebrate with her well then the girl could celebrate it on her own. After all she deserved some well-deserved rest and relaxation after all the hard she put into this thing for other people.



Standing up she reached back to slip the matches into a back pocket and carefully twirled her sparkler around in front of her as she walked up and replaced it in the box she had gotten it from. Might as well get some food from one of the vendors that are still open while she still had the chance. There was also the small issue with finding where her guild leaders had gone off to after bothering to have them all show up but then never actually doing it when the time of the event happens. She only met her guild leaders Hirosame and Midori one time while they were making a puppet of some kind together but at the time neither one seemed like they’d be particularly untrustworthy when it came to keeping appointments, but maybe she could chalk that one up to not knowing them well enough.



After taking a few steps down on the soft earth Kazuko happened upon a small strange golem simply standing in the middle of the crowd holding four drinks in its artificial arms. ‘What is this some kind of new bartending golem? This wasn’t on the list of licensed sellers this evening.'  The shamen thought to herself tilting her head to one side as she leaned in to look closer at the golem before looking around. ‘Maybe someone left him here for some reason, I’ll just leave it in case they come back. If not I’ll get security to come over and remove it for obstructing traffic flow.' She smiled again with a nod before continuing on her way down to the line of food court vendors.



The small girl hadn’t eaten anything since the small dinner several hours earlier back by the main stage so it wasn’t a surprise that smelling all of the sweets and tastey snacks here set her stomach loose making rumbling noises of disapproval. The question was how was she going to decide what to spend her rapidly dwindling supply of coin on. One thing was certain she was going to buy one of these moon cakes that were popular at this time of year, as well as the large box of assorted candies to enjoy for later. Ignoring any vendor that just served drinks Kazuko made a sour face and kept looking to both sides for anymore food that seemed tasty enough to jump out and grab her attention to be bought. There certainly was enough here that provided money wasn’t an issue you’d never have to worry about going hungry for the day.

Word Count: 543

[Hirosame]

As Midori had begun to take the lead, Hiro couldn't stop his stomach from growling any louder than it was already. One look at the pork buns set Hiro's mind into a flood of mouth-watering desire. He felt his tongue begin to float, as the saliva had finally amounted up to almost fill his mouth. So, without much further adieu, he walked right over to the pork buns stall, and purchased at least 5. He handed a few over to Midori, and began to chow down, almost immediately, saving 3 for himself. What his mouth had experienced next was a flourish of sweetness and delight, that overcame his entire being for a few moments. Being in this game was hard enough on one's stomach, but not eating anything for a long period of time was another thing entirely.

It wasn't another moment after he had finished the pork buns that he walked casually over to the moon cake stall, and bought a few of those as well. He offered them to Midori as well, hoping she would take him up on his offer to buy her food. It was pretty much the least he could do, as a leader to his fellow leader. It didn't matter to him, really, how much it all cost. He had gotten to a state of being in which money was no longer and object. He had a decent amount of money on him anyways, as he had learned to keep some money in your pocket, just in case of such emergencies. While this itself wasn't that huge of an emergency, it was still useful to have a bit of cash on you. You never know when something could happen, but you should always consider the possibility. Moral of the thread, right there. Cut it. Print it.

But, anyways, getting back on topic. After Hiro's hunger had been sated, he crouched down for a moment, before looking over to Midori for a moment. His rather serious face began to crack, and soon enough he was laughing his ass off. "I'm such a pig, I'm sorry!" He said, in his laughter. After a few moments, he stood back up straight, and looked down the street again, a smile still firm on his face. It was about that moment when he thought he saw someone familiar. He could see the orange hair on a short girl, as she was kneeling down to look at something. He tried to move himself around a bit, to get a good look at her, but couldn't fully see her. He turned to Midori sharply, and said to her, "I think I see Kazuko. C'mon!" Unknowingly, Hiro grabbed onto Midori's arm, and started to run with her behind him.

Passing by a number of people on their way, Hiro dragged Midori towards the orange-haired guild member. He could see a small symbol next to their life bar, what looked like a Shaman's symbol. He grinned, and started to run a little faster. He finally realized that he was pretty much dragging Midori by this point, feeling a little awkward. But, that moment passed by swiftly, as he was pretty much where the girl was by this point. He smiled, and looked down at the girl, but noticed the small golem. He was purplexed by it, and the fact that it was holding drinks, but shrugged the thought off. He turned to the girl, and asked. "Kazuko? That you?" He smiled, hoping that it was the girl that they were looking for.

[Midori]

After that short lapse, the Narrator returned after two games of tactics chess and an actual regular chess game that ended in four queens placing a lonely and awkward enemy king in stalemate. It was quite an event. Playing on the white side is a lone king, dancing between 2-3 spaces as black pawns around him get quickly promoted to queens. Soon enough, a grand scene was formed as two knights joined right next to each other. Then the black king took up his position on the chariot. Finally, one of the four black queens joined him by his side. And then nothingness. The black side decided to let the white king off from his inevitable death as long as he enlisted as a servant or something. But you probably don't care about Narrator's Bizarre Adventure. Back to the post. Wow, how did this thread get pushed down this much? It hadn't even been a full day yet.

Anyway, Hiro had decided to take her word for it and pretty much bought a bunch of the pork buns and moon cakes at a time. It would appear that the pictures embedded in the previous post were too strong to resist. In any case, Touko accepted some of the pork buns and tasted them, reveling in their taste. She was glad that even in this alternate world, it had been possible for people to make food with authentic taste. There had been original worries that they would have had to eat tasteless yet pretty-looking food forever. Regardless, there was no time to buy the box of candied foods, as Hiro had apparently noticed Kazuko somewhere in the distance. It had been a sudden action - her hand was suddenly grabbed as they ran through the stalls toward a distant orange-haired figure. Her heart jumped for a moment. Was it the sudden touch of another individual's hand. Kind of. It was also because she almost dropped a pork bun in the process.

But since we're waiting for the alleged Kazuko to respond and that Fernweh was apparently lost somewhere, back to Kazuko!

[Kazuko]

Nibbling a bit on the small pastry Kazuko felt as if her taste buds had gone to heaven as she walked down the aisles with a moon cake clutched between her two small hands with a tiny bite already taken out of it. It seemed the chefs who had shown up to sell their baked goods had definitely not let the girl down in making the best food they possibly could for her and others to try. As the warm pastry gradually got smaller though, filling up the empty space in the girl’s stomach the small child gradually could feel the time getting later and later and a part of her really didn’t care anymore as long as she could stay by these pastry stalls and eat more delicious snacks.



Popping the last small bite into her mouth Kazuko didn’t notice anyone calling her name. In fact it wasn’t till she finished delicately licking the excess pastry crumbs from her fingers and she made it back to the weird golem that she even noticed anybody there. “Oh, uhm hi can I he-….OH Hiro! And Midori too!" She replied as they came up to her, at first thinking the pair was just like the many other players who approached her today for some request or other before it registered who they were. She had honestly been surprised, by this point having actually given up meeting her guild mates in favor of trying to enjoy the rest of the festival. “So how have you guys been, you enjoying yourselves alright tonight?" She asked beaming a smile at the both of them while holding the small bag that contained her large box of candies clutched loosely in front of her with both hands.



After regaining her normal composure her tone went back to being casual again the next she spoke. “So I don’t suppose any of you saw Fernweh at all did you? I thought I did and called out to him but I think he got lost again like he usually does." Kazuko spoke softly making a tired sigh and shaking her head thinking about the clumsy fox tail man she had only met once previously before joining the guild. She only really knew the man as a summoner with some useful skills for fighting possessed stumps, she technically never got a chance to really get to know the guy other than seeing that fire lizard thing in battle. His general appearance though seemed to suggest he was, how to put it nicely, a forgetful airhead yeah that seemed about right to describe him.



Anyway with Hiro and Midori they now had three of their four merry band of guild members together so Kazuko supposed worst case they could still have their guild event with just the three of them. “I hope he shows up, the guild event won’t be the same unless we’re all here together to watch the show." The young shaman softly murmured as she stared blankly off into the distance picturing Fernweh somewhere out there not having fun with the rest of them. “Oh! I almost forgot I got some stuff at the food stalls a little bit ago and just thought if you guys wanted some of the candy I bought later while we watch the fireworks!" She spoke in her loudest, happiest voice she could manage, which to anyone else would still sound like it had been a timid and meek sounding response, but the sentiment was still there to share the box of candies with everyone…as long they didn’t eat the whole box in one night, she planned on saving this for treats to have for while to come.

Word Count: 614

[Fernweh]

Fernweh sighed, looking around from the top of the pile of crates. –Nothing? I really thought I had heard her though…- he pondered, beginning to wonder exactly how much he had actually drank. Maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him, it was a large crowd after all and some names sound similar. Still, the fox tail was a bit depressed he hadn’t found a single guild member yet and the added embarrassment of failing to locate one now wasn’t helping. With one last, vain look around from his perch Fernweh’s tail and ears drooped in defeat as he made his way to climb down the side.

Landing with a solid thud next to his golem, he was pleased to find the little guy still holding the four drinks in his arms. “Haha, good job. I was worried how much you had understood but it seems like you haven’t spilled a drop,” he Fernweh praised the living stone before adding, “Always thought you guys had intelligence.” Picking up the cups one by one and placing them on the crate next to him, he crouched down in front of the summon. “You wouldn’t have happened to see that girl from my guild while I was up there, would you?” There was, of course, no response.

Sighing, he patted the golem’s head and stood back up. “Sorry to even ask such a question buddy, I know you can’t speak. Just wishful thinking I suppose…. Thanks for helping though, Desummon: Golem.” As the stone lost its driving life force, it crumbled to the ground. For a second time since Fernweh had gotten the skill he couldn’t help but wonder if each golem summoned was the same golem or a new one. He hoped it was the prior, living and dying in such a short time would be too cruel…

Picking up two of the cups, the fox tail gulped down the contents. –No, no depressing thoughts on a day like this. Debate this shitty stuff later when there isn’t fun to be had- he mentally dictated to himself. He still had to find his guildmates and find a good place to enjoy the fireworks… -And now a new bottle of alcohol…- he laughed slightly, realizing he had two cups to fill again now, -I really need to find them before I lose myself around here.-

Stacking the empty cups and holding the other two, the fox tail looked around for a stall specializing in alcohol. Just one bottle would do, he only needed a bit for today and the rest could always be saved for a later date after all, maybe as a celebratory drink after clearing their first dungeon even. With that thought in mind, Fernweh began to carve his way over to a merchant’s stall that seemed to fit the bill. –After this I just need to find the elusive bastards so we can finally get moving with the guild event already. They better not have started without me…-

Word Count: 500

[Hirosame]

Hiro relaxed a bit, letting his arms fall to his sides, tiredly. The time of the day was starting to effect the young man, as his medium-length sprint wore him out for the time being. It was certainly something he hadn't done for quite some time, sprint like that. It was also the first time he had ever basically dragged a girl along with him, let alone a person. Life is full of adventures, for sure, as well as first times for everything. He gave a small sigh of relief as he saw Kazuko's familiar face. He smiled in return to her looking over at the two of them, and felt his heart beating for the first time in this game. It was either the fact that he had just run for a medium distance, at a high speed, or the fact that he had pretty much just dragged a girl along with him the entire way. He'd never really been that forward with women, even if it was a good friend of his. It was still weird to him, since he never really did that before, but it was probably the run that got him so worked up.

He listened to Kazuko as she spoke, and soon realized that they hadn't found Fernweh yet. He was hoping that Kazuko, at least, found Fernweh, but that guy was still missing in action. Now, if that rat bastard didn't show up soon, Hiro was going to get a little frustrated. I mean, is it really that hard to meet up where Hiro had designated? Granted, Kazuko was a little ways away, and it might've been his own fault for moving around a bit with Midori, since he got to be a bit of a pig, but still. If that dirty horse neeper didn't show up by the time the fireworks began, Hiro was going to personally punch his ass across the water. And Kazuko was right: It wouldn't be the same if Fernweh didn't show up. Hiro was a bit against going to find him, and just decided that he would show up, unless the other two wanted to go meet up with him. Hell, if he didn't show up, Hiro would load every little bit of Scribe working he could find on him, and make him unable to leave an area in the workshop for a long, long time.

Man, was that a tangent. It looked as if he were completely ignoring Midori and Kazuko by this time, even though he was still paying attention to them. Midori didn't say anything, which he found to be the norm, while Kazuko seemed to be Little Miss Chatty, seeing as she and Hiro haven't talked a whole ton before. He started to look around at the people and festivities. He then turned back to Kazuko, and nodded to her remark about the candy. Hiro would love to have some more food, but the pork buns and moon cakes Hiro had chomped down on earlier were finally hitting his stomach. He didn't want to say anything, but he felt that he should. He let it slide, and let his angst towards Fernweh rage on in his mind for a little while longer. This never showed on his face, however, and he kept his normal smile, waiting for Midori or Kazuko to say something else.

[561 Words]