A Slimy Rescue [Duo]

[Ashabel]

Ashabel woke up from a deep slumber, rubbing her eyes twice before standing up and dusting herself off. She had no idea why she did the exact same thing every day; even in real life she dusted herself off after waking up. Whatever it was, there was probably no way she would ever stop, after all it wasn’t harming anyone and habits are very hard to quit. It was around time that she began surveying the world around London, after all not everything around he seemed the same as the real world. Granted each building was in the same location as it was when she had visited back in the real world. “Guess I should stop pondering, and get to wandering.” Doing as she said aloud, Ashabel began wandering out of the inn where she rested, leaving a spare gold coin she had found on the counter for the innkeeper without him realizing.

The outside world was bright this time in the morning, had it really only been four days since she had arrived in this strange place? Just yesterday had she met Jade and Aerila, both were pretty fun people to be around; Aerila more than Jade it had seemed. Oh well, that day was rather foggy in her mind, but thankfully she was able to add Aerila as a friend; her name appeared in front of her as she brought up the friends list to prove it happened to be there. There was a strange phone like icon next to her name, seemed like she would be able to call her whenever she wanted, but it seemed like it was too early in the morning to go calling people. Ashabel closed her UI with a swift flick and began outwards and onwards toward the nearby Forest. Apparantly it was called the Windsor Greatwood by the locals, at least her eavesdropping here and there gave her that name.

Standing just outside of London she came towards the great woods, each tree standing massive over Ashabel’s own short height. Placing one hand on the wood to get a good feel of it, she wondered just how deep the forest goes, and if there were even larger trees deeper inside. A familiar voice came from the road behind her. Whoever it was cared not who heard them, as he kept boasting about a cowardly little girl who called in friends to attack him inside of town. ‘It can’t be!’ Ashabel thought, turning to see the man she had accidentally bit the day before. It seemed he hadn’t been absolutely oblivious either, as his voice stopped and he looked directly at her.

“That’s her! Get that runt!” The man bellowed in anger, as he and his pair of equally burly friends stopped what they were doing and began running down the hill towards her.

Letting out a single scream of surprise, Ashabel bolted into the forest, ducking around trees and diving through bushes in an attempt to lose them. Each time she could be the coarse branches of the bush scratch at her, but thankfully she had not taken any hit point damage as her health bar seemed to stay the same. Eventually she just dived into a nearby bush and sat there, hoping her pursuers would give up.

“Grrr where did she go!” Out of the hole in the bush she could see the man only several feet away from her. “God damnit guys she gave us the slip. We will get her next time. Let’s go back to town, see if we can find any more newbies for our new sport, Battlepets!” The mans group seemed to all guffaw in unison as they walked off. Just what had he been talking about? Battlepets? Ashabels mind could barely understand what they had wanted to do, but that did not matter now, she needed to either get back in London where she was safe, or finish exploring.

But where was she? The short sorceress had ran so far that she had no idea how far it really was. Looking around at her scenery she noticed the trees had thickened, much like what tends to happen in the center of a forest. “Just great” She murmured to herself, “Now I’m lost.” In frustration she immediately went to kick a nearby tree, which she soon found to be not such a great idea. A sharp glint of pain shot up her leg, causing her to hold her foot, bounce a couple of times, and then to fall over. Once more her health bar did not drop, guess what she did wasn’t deadly. Once more Ashabel began wandering, this time away from where her pursuers ran from.

Slowly and slowly Ashabel began more worried that she might never get out of the Windsor Greatwood, slowly becoming hungrier and hungrier. Eventually she turned towards hunting, and came across a few bunny rabbits; or as the user interface called them, Frenmic Rabbits. Selecting one and choosing to fire one of her ice spells, Frost Spear to be precise directly at the Rabbit. Her body took the animation, and began preparing to sling the spear at the rabbit, when it noticed her and bolted off, causing the spear to fly after it, nailing it directly in the back. Must have been quite a tough rabbit, it just continued running off. It was then that Ashabel realized her mistake, or just learned a valuable lesson. Casting magic while alone in the deepwoods meant slimes, lots of slimes. From nearby bushes, down trees, and falling off of branches, several slimes began slowly crawling towards her curiously. Knowing what slimes did to wanton adventurers in other roleplaying games, she immediately tried fleeing. Every single direction she had tried to turn, there was a slime, and each time she re-checked an exit that was closing more slimes had appeared. Immediately seeing her predicament, she resorted to her back-up plan. Aerila!

Immediately clicking the call button she waited for the blue haired Warden to pick up. Once she did however, she heard the typical connected click. “Aerila! Help. Help! It’s Ash, please god they are everywhere. I’m in the Windsor Greatwood, please come qu-EYAAAAAA!” She screamed as a slime fell off the tree and landed on her shoulder, causing her to run straight to the last exit she could possible reach; the tree in the center of the clearing. It was massive, extremely thick; so large that if Ashabel tried wrapping her arms around it if she were her size in the real world, it would be hard for her to even get her arms in the double digits of percentage around that tree. Whatever it was, it might be her saving grace; or so she hoped. Crunching herself against the tree, she panted from her sudden lack of oxygen due to the panicked speech and the sudden shock of so many slimes. The slime that had fallen onto her shoulder was rather small, and it just sat there staring at her face with an inquisitive look. “Just... don’t hurt me Mr. Slime. Stay ri- OH GOD THEY ARE COMING CLOSER!” She pushed herself even closer to the tree, trying to keep herself away from them, but eventually they encroached on her feet and began inspecting her shoes. “Please save me, I don’t want to die!” One could hear her voice quivering faintly, showing that she was about to cry but was perhaps too terrified to do so.

Words: 1245
Tags: Aerila
Notes: Over the phone she isn't timid, after all it's just a voice, not a pretty face. That, and she is super panicked right now; slimes are really slimy.

[Aerila]

Aerila HP: 100% MP: 100%

---

"Oh, I do love to go and frolic outside~!" Aerila skipped along happily down the road from Londinium, taking her first journey out into the world, a sing song tune harmoniously echoing past her lips. The sun was shining brightly up above, having just crested over the horizon and lifted up into the sky a small bit to signal it was mid-morning. She had undoubtedly surprised herself at how early she was awake, but it seemed the shade of buildings just wasn't cutting it any more. Aerila needed to get out and explore, enjoy the world, meet new people and make new friends. It was the only way she'd be able to keep herself sane in this world; at least, that's what she had told herself when she was alone this morning. Crazy, right?

Just yesterday she had become acquainted with two lovely ladies, Jade the adorable bee girl, and of course the cutie in distress, Ashabel, or Ash as Aerila liked to call her. She had made two friends already, and it hadn't even been a week since the Catastrophe - that was what they were calling it, in most circles, the event which brought all the Adventurers here. "I do love to go outside and play~!" With a skip in her step and a song in her lungs, she was happily skipping for quite a long time, a few hours before she reached the edge of the forest known as the Windsor Greatwood; she had heard from a few people that this was where newbies came to get better... git gud, as some might say. Aerila shook her head; not something she would be caught dead saying, that was for sure. Blegh.

As the forest outskirts came up quickly, the Elven Warden heard sounds of people coming closer; perhaps other Adventurers who were leaving after a healthy morning of... adventuring. But, as the voices got closer, she could hear the familiar tone and bravado of the angry man from yesterday, who had senselessly attacked poor Ashabel. Gritting her teeth, she darted to hide behind the closest, biggest tree, using it as cover to watch from as the group of burly males approached; great, there goes her one vs one ambush plan, now it was one vs three, and she did not like those odds. There was still a bit of time left however, and Aerila had a bit of a plan on her mind.

Grabbing delicately at the kunai on her waist, she unravelled the rope that she had tied around her body, readying her weapon in her right hand and swinging it 'round her body, listening to the whistle of metal against the air. Her eyes trained on the tree nearby, a similar thickness to it as the one she was hiding behind; judging by her calculations, the rowdy group would be walking between these two oaks on their way back to Londinium. With a wicked smirk, she launched the kunai from her hand, sending it flying through the air and watching it impale solidly into the tree opposite, down by it's base. Acting fast, she tied the other end of the rope around her tree; once it was snug, she simply watched and waited for the magic to happen.

"Come on, little chickens... Fall on your faces," she whispered under her breath, her eyes going wider and wider as the trio approached the rope, their bravado and ego distracting them from the obvious trap. "Idiots," she muttered, but the tension was building quickly, suspense almost killing Aerila as she waited for the magic moment. And then, as if on cue, the three males stepped forward into the rope, their expressions changing rapidly from pride to startled fear as they fell forward over the top of it, landing flat on their faces with three loud thuds and becoming tangled in a tall heaping pile of man body. Giggling and laughing uncontrollably, Aerila undid the rope around her tree and tugged the kunai back to her side, before bolting into the Greatwood with incredible speed.

Her pace quickly died down to a slow walk once she was certain she had lost the Fool Man's Group, taking her time as she began her initial exploration of the deeper area of the forest she had found herself in. Aerila smiled softly as she glanced upwards, looking at the tops of the trees above that held up the canopy, blocking most of the sun's light and creating a darkened, mysterious zone of the world. "Pretty," she whispered under her breath, but her reverie was stopped momentarily when she heard her interface go off; bringing up the digital menu, she was surprised to see she was getting a telepathy call. Her train of thought began chugging through ideas of who it might be, before she simply shrugged and gave in, pressing the answer button and hearing the telepathy click and activate.

"You've reached the illustrious and fun Aerila! How may I-..." The Elven Warden was cut off suddenly when a familiar voice began excitedly and franticly speaking over her. It was Ashabel, the cutie from yesterday she had friended. A happy smile graced her palette, but her expression quickly changed when she heard what Ash was saying. "Wh-what...? Ash, what's going on? You okay, cutie? What's everywhere?" Her words were full of concern and worry; it was clear that the Sorceress had gotten herself in a tough spot, and Aerila wasn't about to leave her to the dangers of the world. Ash said she was in the Windsor, which meant she was nearby... She would just need to activate the friend tracker system, right...? This game had that... Right?

"Hold on tight, Ash, I'm coming as fast as I can!" Quickly hanging up, Aerila went to her friend's list in her interface, clicking on Ashabel's name and activating the tracking system. A little dot appeared on the mini-map, revealing the young maiden's location relative to where the Warden was. With a quick nod, she darted in that direction, speedily whizzing through trees and over bushes as fast as she could go, hand at the ready by her kunai for when she reached the girl. She couldn't help but giggle a little; after all, she had only met Ash yesterday, and she had rescued her from danger then too. "Three times and it's a pattern!" Ah, you clever, clever girl you. Anyway, Aerila hurried through the forest, before eventually she heard Ash's voice, as well as the sloppy sound of slimes moving around on the forest floor.

"You're not going to die, cutie!" Aerila called out to the young girl who was clinging to the tree like her life depended on it, her eyes falling on the slime that had landed on Ash's shoulder. Holding back a fit of laughter, she brandished her rope dart kunai and swung it forward towards the closest slime, feeling her weapon attach into the slime's form. "Come here, you little rascals," she grumbled as she pulled on the rope, yanking the slime in her direction, as well as pulling out a fair chunk of damage. The slime began to move closer in for an attack, but Aerila was too fast, using the rope dart like a ribbon dancer might and swivelling it around her form in fanciful displays, striking the kunai across the slime's gelatinous form.

After several quick slashes, the green gooey monster burst into data bubbles, leaving behind a few coins and some experience before dissipating into the air. "Now for the rest of you!" Aerila swung her rope dart back around her waist, tying it snugly so it wouldn't come loose. With her eyes focused forward on the large group, she activated her Wardenscale, holding her arms out straight from her sides. "Mode Change!" Her armour began to slowly unravel around her form, and over the course of four seconds, her armour wrapped around and condensed onto her forearms in the form of two metal gauntlets. "Purity Gauntlets!" Exclaiming her first skill use, she readied her fists, the rest of her body exposed, a bandage like top wrapped around her chest, her midriff now showing beneath it, as well as her shoulders. "Time to bring the pain~!"

---

Notes: Fists of Fury!
Purity Charges: 0
Entropy Cartridges: 2 out of 4
Word Count: 1372
Tags: Ashabel

Coded by @serenityspace of LH

[Ashabel]

Ashabel heard a voice from just several meters away, and had only a moments time to react before the slime was ripped off of her shoulder with such force, that her body followed a short bit, causing her to fall on top of several slimes. Each slime stuck to her robe in confusion as she flailed to shake them off, with each rough movement throwing several slimes to either side. She hadn’t noticed what had originally happened to the slime that was yoinked off of her shoulder, but when she looked up the slime was gone, and her friend Aerila had on a pair of shiny gauntlets. ‘Wait, I know just what to do here!’ Scrambling to her feet, Ashabel ran behind Aerila before hiding her face from her. “T-thanks...” Ashabel thought the rest of the sentence. ‘I have a gift for you.’

Opening her interface, Ashabel selected her other ice based spell, Icicle Impale, then selected Aerila. Her body began chanting as blue particle effects surrounded her, and as she did so she realized she could partially control the volume of which she was speaking, and once that happened her voice suddenly trailed off until one would have to concentrate to even hear the words she was saying. It seemed the slimes took note of the sudden use of magic, as they slimes immediately turned and started crawling towards Ashabel once more. ‘Don’t move Ashley, Aerila will need this spell!’ Finally, the four seconds that felt like forever had ended, and the spell finished casting, coating Aerila’s gauntlets in a thick layer of ice. “That’s... better,” her voice had trailed off, and she had seemed to be out of breath. Chanting like that was no where near normal for her, and she would have to get used to it.

Shortly after the spell went off had she began to cast her other spell, Icicle spear. Thankfully, this spell was rather quiet, as it only used a few words before the spear formed, and the rest of the cast time was preparing to launch the spear. As she was preparing the spell she simultaneously attempted to count each slime that was in the clearing. ‘One... two... three... oh dear that is a lot of monsters.’ She counted eight to nine in total, and hadn’t the faintest idea what levels they were. Perhaps they should use her ice magic to slow them down before fleeing, or kill as many as they can before needing to flee. Whatever it was, this fight was about to get grimy.

Words: 425
Tags: Aerila
Notes: It's getting grimy! Where is the Grimer gijinka when you need her?

[Aerila]

Aerila HP: 100% MP: 100%

---

After Ash finally reacted to her presence, the Elven Warden could do nothing but giggle as she directed her to come over to her, where she would be safer; alas, she needn't bother, as the girl had rather the same idea, bolting past the group of slimes and hid herself behind the readied warrior. "Not a fan of slimes, huh?" Aerila released a teasing sigh, glancing over her shoulder to see the Sorceress hiding her face in her hands, clearly embarrassed about the whole situation; she couldn't blame her though, the gooey creatures were not a fun bunch, especially for a user of magic as Ashabel was. These little cretins were infatuated and curious about any display of arcane arts.

Before she could act, Aerila heard the Half-Alv behind her say something about a gift, her attention attempting to split itself between the ever encroaching slimes and the magic-wielder. "A gift? Well, better make it snappy, hun... These poor sods are getting closer," she muttered in reply, stepping back a few paces to gently bump into the young girl, alerting her to move with Aerila and buy them both some more time from the slimes. Whatever Ash had planned for this battle, it needed to happen soon, or else she was just going to have to go in swinging and hope her gauntlets would do the rest. She wasn't really cut out for boxing; she was no Mike Tyson, that was certain. Mhm! I don't even have a lisp! Aerila, concentrate on the battle. Oh, sorry!

Aerila could hear the soft chant of the girl behind her as she was brought back to reality from her reverie, bringing a smirk to her palette as she realised she was about to experience the enchantment abilities of the Sorceress, her fists rising up to ready her Wardenscale gauntlets, metallic and shiny in their battle-readiness. After a few seconds had passed, the slimes were now very close, almost within striking distance; just then, the spell Ash was casting finished, and the Elven Warden felt her gauntlets get a tiny bit heavier against her forearms, as the metallic sheen was covered in a thick layer of ice, forming the visual signal that her weaponry was enchanted with the element.

"Thanks, cutie! Let's see how they like it," she called back to the girl, before lunging forward to meet the slimes head first, striking forward towards the middle of the group. Her fist swung downwards at the closest green blob, the ice-covered gauntlet colliding with it's gelatinous form. Her body was a little clunky and out of practice - like she said, she was no boxer - but the strike was enough to apply the effects of the enchantment, imbuing her damage with a debuff that visibly slowed the slime's movement down. With a wicked grin, Aerila concentrated her attacks and made a few more strikes into it's body, using it's slowed reflexes to eliminate it's ability to dodge; after a flurry of damages, the slime exploded just as the last one did, filling the air with bubbles before dissipating.

She could hear faintly the next spell being cast behind her, as the slimes in the surrounding her began to move away and towards the caster, leaving Aerila in the dust. Groaning at the irritating behaviour, she readied her weapons again, coming up the rear of the group and swinging hard down toward the floor, hitting as many as she could so they would begin to slow down. With eight or nine slimes gathering in this group, and likely more to come with the amount of magic being thrown around, Aerila quickly realised things were going to get hairy very fast. Gritting her teeth, she made a few more lunges with her gauntlets, making sure most of the group were slowed by her enchantment before she bounded over the slimes with incredible speed.

Landing in between the green goos and Ashabel, she glanced between them both before quickly deciding that the best course of action here would be to... run. This was also starting to become a pattern for her and Ash, but who doesn't enjoy a healthy jog; even if it's away from hungry, mana-obsessed slimes? "Sorry hun, looks like you'll need to save that spell for later," she muttered, turning to face the young lass. "Hold on tight!" After her loud exclamation, she said nothing more before she grabbed the Sorceress by the hips, tugging her in close to her form. Manoeuvring her arms, Aerila scooped her limbs around the underside of Ash's knees and under her upper back, hoisting her off the ground and into a bridal carry.

"I ain't letting a slime take you today, Ash," she said finally, giving her a reassuring smile before she broke out into a run, bolting through the trees and bushes as fast as her legs would take her. She could hear the slimes on their tail for the first few seconds, but thanks to the slow debuffs applied by her gauntlets, they were quickly eating the duo's dust, and after at least a minute of a heart pumping sprint, Aerila finally came to a slow halt, her chest rising and falling with the heavy, exasperated breaths she was taking into her lungs, the bandages wrapped around her chest stretching slightly at the rapid changes in her form. "That was lucky, huh?" The Warden gave a breathless chuckle, not yet bothering to put the girl down.

---

Notes: Hope those slimes like the taste of second place.
Purity Charges: 1
Entropy Cartridges: 2.5 out of 4
Word Count: 909
Tags: Ashabel

Coded by @serenityspace of LH

[Ashabel]

The moment Ashabel had finished the spell, her companion now had the ability to slow down the slimes; it seemed to be working much better than she had originally anticipated. Thankfully, her companions strikes had such a great effect, that the slimes failed to reach her before her ice spear flew true, skewering one of the slimes and causing it to shatter into dust. Ashabel had only a moment to cheer when she realized her companion had mentioned saving the spell for later before snatching Ashabel off of her feet for the second time in what seems to be only a day or so. Ashabel made a few disgruntled noises as Aerila flipped her around to hold her bride style, before pouting at her. “One down, eight to go.” Her voice was still her stereotypical quiet, but one could hear a sense of pride through it all. Despite as much Ashabel wanted to go on a slime spree, she knew that more would have arrived, so she gave little to no struggle against Aerila as she was whisked off to safety, watching as the slimes vanished into the distance.

It wasn’t long before the duo had made it to a clearing, it seemed rather safe, and now Ashabel decided to wriggle and squirm in an attempt to be put down. Once she was free of being held she moved to dust off her robe; the same she had done as if she just got out of bed, and was met by a large pile of goop that stuck to her hand. “What in the...” She took one look at it, and realized that the slimes she fell in had give her a present; the entire front of her robe was covered in slime goop! Covering her mouth, not in timidness like she had always done in the past, but in disgust as she attempted to not lose her breakfast. Eventually she had a quick thought, rapidly unequipping her gear and putting it back on in an attempt to remove the slime, after all that tended to refresh models in actual video games. Unlucky for her, it seemed as though she just showed Aerila her undergarments for no reason, as the slime was still there as thick as it was before. “Eaugh get it off of me!” She yelped while flailing her arms, trying to splash the slime off as fast as she could, sending blobs in each direction. After a few moments she finally calmed down, most of the slime had been removed, but Ashabel was panting from the sudden rigorous workout. “I’m... done... I... give up...” Ashabel plopped onto the ground in an attempt to catch her breath.

“S...so... Aer... mind...” She panted while trying to talk. “M...mind leading me out...?” Her voice was extremely quiet, back to normal it had seemed.

Words: 475
Tags: Aerila
Notes: Sorry for the long wait ;^;

[Aerila]

Aerila HP: 100% MP: 100%

---

As their escape began, Aerila couldn't help but giggle at the gentle pride in Ash's voice over slaying one of the slimes; she had managed to let off one last spell, despite her warnings, and managed to skewer one of the goops straight through. One down, eight to go indeed. But luckily, the Sorceress was understanding of their predicament, and declined to struggle against the bridal carry she was now locked within. The Elven Warden finally came to a halt after much running, and with her breath slowly returning to her lungs, she felt the squirm of Ashabel's wishes to be let down; giving the young one a smile, she lowered her arms carefully, setting the girl down on her feet and retracting her limbs back to her sides.

She could feel a sheen layer of sweat that had built itself on her skin, due to the sheer amount of speed that she had gathered in their escape, so she remained in her current Purity Gauntlet mode, her Wardenscale merely weighing down her forearms while the ice dissipated. Her lower half was still leather and chained, a striking set of trousers that matched the Wardenscale design, while her torso was completely bare, except of course the bandaged mess she kept around her chest to hold her bosom in place; it was a shamble of a clothing item, but it was the best she had for now, and she enjoyed the cool breeze washing over her skin, bringing her flushed form down to a steady temperature.

Glancing down when she heard her companion speak, she finally noticed the damage that had been done by the slimes, and it seemed Ash had figured it out as well. "Oh dear," she muttered under her breath, as she saw the hefty amount of slime and green sludge that had soaked into the front of her robe from her fall. The young Sorceress was rightly disgusted, and Aerila couldn't exactly blame her for her sudden reaction... But her hand quickly shot up to cover her eyes when she witnessed the girl all of a sudden whisk off her robe, leaving her even more starkers than Aerila was! Of course, the Elven Warden was not covering for her own sake - she was never a modest girl, that was for certain, and the brief glimpse she had gotten told her that Ashabel had a decently adorable figure - no, she had covered for the girl's sake, more than anything; she was already embarrassed enough right now.

Replacing her garments seemed to do nothing however, much to Ash's chagrin, and she quickly began flailing at herself, splashing off as much green as possible. "Careful there, hun, don't go hurting yourself," Aerila cautioned, but it was no use. Finally, after much panic, most of the slime had been removed, with just an unhealthy stain coating her front to mark where she had been soiled by the slimes. Now both of them were panting from exhaustion, though Aerila was decidely sweatier in appearance, her skin practically glistening under the sun's light. "Well, at least you look somewhat presentable," the Warden teased with a coo, stepping forward to gently rub her hand over the poor girl's brow, consoling and reassuring her as best as she could.

"Woops...!" Aerila was too exhausted to react as the damsel suddenly flopped backwards, falling to the floor to rest and catch her breath; a tempting idea, but she wasn't really the one to sit down and stop for even the smallest moment. Even now she had a sense of excitement running through her, a hyper energy coursing through her body. After fending off those slimes, she wanted some more action; but alas, she doubted Ash would be up for more tussles, not in her current state, and not after what she had just experienced. Ash affirmed this when she spoke once more, asking in her atypical quiet speech if the Elven Warden would be able to lead her back to the safety of the city.

Aerila stepped forward, kneeling down in front of Ash and giving her a happy grin, her hand reaching out to pat the girl on the head. "Sure thing, sweetie! It'll be a bit of a walk through the forest, and then there is the road back to Londinium, but we'll be back by the end of the day." She tilted her head to one side, making sure the Sorceress was ready before she lowered her hand to the damsel's own, gently taking it and squeezing their palms together. Letting their digits tangle for a few seconds, she gave a soft sigh, before standing up straight and hoisting the girl up onto her feet. Releasing her hand, she placed her palms into her hips, puffing out her chest with a prideful stance. "I'll get us out of here, or my name isn't Aerila! Which... it is, so... yes!" Gesturing her heard towards the direction of travel, she turned on her heels in a graceful spin before starting to walk ahead, not waiting for Ashabel to decide on whether she should follow or not.

---

Notes: Hi ho duo, away!
Purity Charges: 2
Entropy Cartridges: 3 out of 4
Word Count: 851
Tags: Ashabel

Coded by @serenityspace of LH